T 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

A.    F.   Morrison 


WONDER  STORIES 

THE  BEST  MYTHS  FOR  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


Iris  crossing  the  Rainbow  Bridge. 


Page  222 


WONDER  STORIES 


THE  BEST  MYTHS  FOR  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


CAROLYN  SHERWIN  BAILEY 


Author:  "Foe  the  Children's  Hour,"  "For  the  Story  Teller, 
"Stories  Children  Need,"  "Tell  Me  Another  Story," 
"Stories  of  Great  Adventures,"  etc. 


WITH  SIX  PICTURES  IN  COLORS 

By  CLARA  M.  BURD 


1920 

MILTON  BRADLEY  COMPANY 
SPRINGFIELD       MASSACHUSETTS 


COPYRIGHTED,  1920  BY 

MILTON  BRADLEY  COMPANY 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Bradley  Quality  Boohs 

^Children 


TZ8. 

3    5 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

How  the  Myths  Began         .        .        .  .  7 

What  Prometheus  Did  with  a  Bit  of  Clay  .  13 
The  Paradise  of  Children.— 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne      .       |  .  22 

What  Became  of  the  Giants  .         .     •' ;  .  33 

How  Vulcan  Made  the  Best  of  Things     .  .  40 

How  Orion  Found  His  Sight         V-      t.,''  .  48 

The  Wonders  Venus  Wrought       ,  /    •,.."•     .  56 

Where  the  Labyrinth  Led     .        .      -.  .  65 

How  Perseus  Conquered  the  Sea    .        .  .  74 

Pegasus,  the  Horse  Who  Could  Fly        .  .  84 

How  Mars  Lost  a  Battle      .        .>       .  .  92 

How  Minerva  Built  a  City    .        .    -.--,, •'-•-:...•  102 

^    Cadmus,  the  Alphabet  King          «        .     x.  113 

,    The  Picture  Minerva  Wove  .        .        .<  .  120 

\§    The  Hero  with  a  Fairy  Godmother         .  .  126 

^    The  Pygmies. — Nathaniel  Hawthorne    .  .  136 

v     The  Horn  of  Plenty     .        .        >  "     .  .  148 

The  Wonder  the  Frogs  Missed       ..:      .  .  154 

When  Phaeton's  Chariot  Ran  Away       .  .  163 

When  Apollo  was  Herdsman.         .        .  .174 

How  Jupiter  Granted  a  Wish        .        .  .  181 
5 

428013 


6  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

How  Hyacinthus  Became  a  Flower         .        .  189 

How  King  Midas  Lost  His  Ears    .        .        .  196 

How  Mercury  Gave  up  his  Tricks          .        .  205 

A  Little  Errand  Girl's  New  Dress          .        .  215 

When  Proserpine  was  Lost    ....  224 

The  Ploughman  who  Brought  Famine    .        .  234 

The  Bee  Man  of  Arcadia      ....  242 

When  Pomona  Shared  Her  Apples         .        .  252 

How  Psyche  Reached  Mount  Olympus  .        .  261 
How  Melampos  Fed  the  Serpent   .        .        .272 

How  a  Huntress  Became  a  Bear    .        .        .  281 

The  Adventure  of  Glaucus    ....  287 

The  Winning  of  the  Golden  Fleece         .        .  297 

Medea's  Cauldron 304 

How  a  Golden  Apple  Caused  a  War       .        .  311 

How  a  Wooden  Horse  Won  a  War         .        .  322 
The  Cyclops.— Alfred  Church        .        .         .329 


HOW  THE  MYTHS  BEGAN 

Long  ago,  when  our  earth  was  more  than  two 
thousand  years  younger,  there  was  a  wonderful 
place  called  Mount  Olympus  at  the  top  of  the 
world  that  the  ancients  could  see  quite  clearly 
with  the  eyes  of  hope  and  faith.  It  did  not 
matter  that  the  Greek  and  Roman  people  had 
never  set  foot  on  this  mountain  in  the  clouds. 
They  knew  it  in  story  and  reverenced  the  gods 
and  goddesses  who  inhabited  it. 

In  the  days  when  the  myths  were  told,  Greece 
was  a  more  beautiful  country  than  any  that  is 
the  result  of  civilization  to-day,  because  the  na- 
tional ideal  of  the  Greeks  was  beauty  and  they 
expressed  it  in  whatever  they  thought,  or  wrote, 
or  made  with  their  hands.  No  matter  how  far 
away  from  home  the  Greeks  journeyed  they 
remembered  with  pride  and  love  their  blue  bays 
and  seacoast,  the  fertile  valleys  and  sheep  pas- 
tures of  Arcadia,  the  sacred  grove  of  Delphi,  those 
great  days  when  their  athletes  met  for  games  and 
races  at  Athens,  and  the  wide  plains  of  Olympia 
covered  and  rich  with  the  most  perfect  temples 
7 


8  WONDER  STORIES 

and  statues  that  the  world  has  ever  known.  When 
the  Greeks  returned  the  most  beloved  sight  that 
met  their  eyes  was  the  flag  of  their  nation  flying 
at  Corinth,  or  the  towers  of  the  old  citadel  that 
Cadmus  had  founded  at  Thebes. 

It  was  the  youth  time  of  men,  and  there  were 
no  geographies  or  histories  or  books  of  science 
to  explain  to  the  ancients  those  things  about  life 
that  everyone  wants  to  know  sooner  or  later. 
There  was  this  same  longing  for  truth  among  the 
Roman  people  as  well  as  among  the  Greeks.  The 
Romans,  also,  loved  their  country,  and  built 
temples  as  the  Greeks  did,  every  stone  of  which 
they  carved  and  fitted  as  a  stepping  stone  on  the 
way  to  the  abode  of  the  gods. 

But  who  were  these  gods,  and  what  did  a  belief 
in  their  existence  mean  to  the  Greek  and  Roman 
people? 

There  have  been  certain  changes  in  two  thou- 
sand years  on  our  earth.  We  have  automobiles 
instead  of  chariots,  our  ships  are  propelled  by 
steam  instead  of  by  a  favorable  wind,  and  we 
have  books  that  attempt  to  tell  us  why  spring 
always  follows  winter  and  that  courage  is  a  better 
part  than  cowardice.  But  we  still  have  hard 
winters  and  times  when  it  is  most  difficult  to  be 
brave.  We  still  experience  war  and  famine  and 


WONDER  STORIES  9 

crime,  and  peace  and  plenty  and  love  in  just  about 
the  same  measure  that  they  were  to  be  found  in 
Greece  and  Rome.  The  only  difference  is  that 
we  are  a  little  closer  to  understanding  life  than 
the  ancients  were.  They  tried  to  find  a  means 
of  knowing  life  facts  and  of  explaining  the  mir- 
acles of  outdoors  and  of  ruling  their  conduct  by 
their  daily  intercourse  with  this  higher  race  of 
beings,  the  gods,  on  Mount  Olympus. 

There  was  a  gate  of  clouds  on  the  top  of  Mount 
Olympus  that  the  goddesses,  who  were  known  as 
the  Seasons,  opened  to  allow  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Mount  to  descend  to  the  earth  and  return. 
Jupiter,  the  ruler  of  the  gods,  sat  on  the  Olympian 
throne  holding  thunderbolts  and  darts  of  light- 
ning in  his  mighty  hands.  The  same  arts  and 
labors  as  those  of  men  were  practised  by  these 
celestial  beings.  Minerva  and  her  handmaidens, 
the  Graces,  wove  garments  for  the  goddesses  of 
more  exquisite  colors  and  textures  than  any  that 
could  be  made  by  human  hands.  Vulcan  built 
the  houses  of  the  gods  of  glittering  brass.  He 
shaped  golden  shoes  that  made  it  possible  for 
them  to  travel  with  great  speed,  and  he  shod 
their  steeds  so  that  their  chariots  could  ride  upon 
the  water.  Hebe  fed  the  gods  with  nectar  and 
ambrosia,  prepared  and  served  by  her  own  fair 


10  WONDER  STORIES 

hands.  Mars  loosed  the  dogs  of  war,  and  the 
music  of  Apollo's  lute  was  the  song  of  victory  and 
peace  when  war  was  ended.  Ceres  tended  and 
blessed  the  fields  of  grain,  and  Venus,  clad  in 
beautiful  garments  by  the  Seasons,  expressed  the 
desire  of  the  nations,  of  dumb  beasts  and  of  all 
nature  for  love. 

There  were  many  more  than  these,  making  the 
great  immortal  family  of  the  gods,  like  men,  but 
different  in  their  higher  understanding  of  life  and 
its  meaning.  They  lived  apart  on  their  Mount, 
but  they  descended  often  to  mingle  with  the 
people.  They  stood  beside  the  forge  and  helped 
with  the  harvest,  their  voices  were  heard  in  the 
rustling  leaves  in  the  forest  and  above  the  tumult 
and  crash  of  war.  They  guarded  the  flocks  and 
crowned  the  victors  in  games  and  carried  brave 
warriors  to  Elysian  fields  after  their  last  battles. 
They  loved  adventure  and  outdoors;  they  felt 
joy  and  knew  pain.  These  gods  were  the  daily 
companions  of  the  ancients  who  have  given  them 
to  us  in  our  priceless  inheritance  of  the  classics 
and  art. 

When  you  read  the  poems  of  the  blind  Roman, 
Homer,  and  those  of  Ovid  and  Virgil;  when  you 
see  a  picture  of  a  columned  Greek  temple  or  the 
statue  of  the  Apollo  Belvedere  or  the  Guido  Reni 


WONDER  STORIES  11 

painting  of  Aurora  lighting  the  sky  with  the 
torches  of  day,  you,  too,  are  following  the  age-old 
stepping  stones  that  led  to  Mount  Olympus.  The 
myths  were  the  inspiration  for  the  greatest  writ- 
ing and  architecture  and  sculpture  and  painting 
that  the  world  has  ever  known.  They  were  more 
than  this. 

Among  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  cities  there 
was  found  one  temple  with  a  strange  inscription 
on  the  altar:  "To  the  unknown  God."  The  tem- 
ple was  placed  on  Mars  Hill  as  if,  out  of  the  hor- 
rors of  war,  this  new  hope  had  come  to  the  people. 

The  word  mythology  means  an  account  of  tales. 
The  myths  were  just  that,  tales,  but  most  beauti- 
ful and  worth  while  stories.  So  that  people  who 
made  them  and  retold  them  and  lived  as  the  gods 
would  have  had  them  live  came,  finally,  to  feel 
that  there  was  need  for  them  to  build  this  other, 
last  altar. 


WONDER  STORIES 

WHAT  PROMETHEUS  DID  WITH  A  BIT 
OF  CLAY 

Every  boy  and  girl  has  the  same  wonder  at  one 
time  or  another. 

"How  was  the  world  made?"  they  ask. 

So  did  the  boys  and  girls  of  that  long  ago  time 
when  the  myths  were  new,  and  the  Greek  teachers 
told  them  that  the  earth  and  sky  were  all  a  huge 
Chaos  at  first  until  the  gods  from  their  thrones, 
with  the  help  of  Nature,  straightened  out  all 
things  and  gave  order  to  the  world.  They  sepa- 
rated the  earth  from  the  sea,  first,  and  then  the 
sky  from  both  of  these.  The  universe  was  all  a 
flaming  mass  in  the  beginning  but  the  fiery  part 
was  light  and  ascended,  forming  the  skies.  The 
air  hung  just  below  the  skies.  The  waters  were 
very  heavy  and  took  the  lowest  place  where  the 
earth  held  them  safely  in  its  hollows. 

Just  as  one  takes  a  ball  of  clay  and  moulds  it 
into  shape,  some  one  of  the  gods,  it  was  said, 
moulded  the  Earth.  He  gave  places  to  the  rivers 
13 


14  WONDER  STORIES 

and  the  bays,  raised  mountains,  planted  the  forests 
and  laid  out  fertile  fields.  And,  next,  the  fishes 
swam  in  the  waters,  birds  flew  through  the  woods 
and  built  nests,  and  four-footed  beasts  began  to 
be  seen  everywhere. 

But  the  earth  was  not  finished  then  by  any 
means.  There  were  two  giants  of  the  race  of  the 
Titans  who  inhabited  the  earth  at  that  time,  and 
both  of  these  brothers,  Prometheus  and  Epime- 
theus,  could  do  marvellous  things  with  their  hands. 
Prometheus  took  a  little  of  the  new  earth  in  his 
hands  and  as  he  looked  it  over  he  saw,  hidden  in 
it,  some  heavenly  seeds,  very  tiny  of  course  but 
they  gave  him  an  idea  about  something  wonder- 
ful that  he  might  be  able  to  do.  So  Prometheus 
mixed  some  water  with  this  handful  of  earth  and 
seed;  he  kneaded  it  well,  and  then  he  skilfully 
moulded  it  into  a  form  as  nearly  like  the  gods  as 
he  could  make  it.  This  figure  of  clay  stood  up- 
right. Instead  of  turning  its  eyes  down  to  the 
ground  as  the  four-footed  creatures  did,  this  form 
that  Prometheus  had  made  looked  up  toward  the 
sky  where  the  sun  and  the  stars  shone  now  that 
the  air  had  cleared. 


WONDER  STORIES  15 

Prometheus  had  made  man. 

While  the  giant  was  accomplishing  this,  his 
brother,  Epimetheus,  had  been  busy  with  the 
task  of  equipping  the  other  creatures  of  the  earth 
so  that  they  could  take  care  of  themselves.  To 
some  he  gave  the  gift  of  courage,  to  others  wis- 
dom, great  strength,  or  swiftness.  Each  crea- 
ture was  given  that  which  he  most  needed.  It 
was  then  that  the  slow  moving  tortoise  found 
his  shell  and  the  eagle  his  talons.  The  deer  was 
given  his  slender  limbs  and  the  dove  his  wings. 
The  sheep  put  on  his  woolly  covering  that  was 
to  be  renewed  as  often  as  man  sheared  it,  and  the 
horse,  the  camel  and  the  elephant  were  provided 
with  such  great  strength  in  their  backs  that  they 
were  able  to  draw  and  carry  heavy  loads. 

Epimetheus  was  greatly  interested  in  the  man 
that  his  brother  had  made  and  he  felt  that  he 
might  be  in  danger  from  the  wild  beasts  that  were 
now  so  numerous  and  haunted  the  forests.  So 
he  suggested  something  to  the  giant  and  Prometheus 
took  a  torch,  cut  in  the  first  forest,  up  to  heaven 
and  lighted  it  at  the  chariot  of  the  sun.  In  this 
way  he  brought  down  fire  to  the  earth. 


16  WONDER  STORIES 

That  was  the  most  useful  gift  he  could  possibly 
have  given  man.  This  first  man  had  begun  to 
dig  caves  and  make  leafy  covers  in  the  woods 
and  huts  woven  of  twigs  to  be  his  shelters.  Now 
that  fire  had  come  to  the  earth  he  was  able  to 
light  a  forge  and  shape  metals  into  weapons  and 
tools.  He  could  defend  himself  from  wild  beasts 
with  the  spear  he  made,  and  cut  down  trees  with  his 
axe  for  building  a  stronger  home.  He  made  a 
ploughshare  and  harnessed  Epimetheus'  oxen  to 
it  as  he  planted  his  fields  with  food  grains. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  earth  was  going  to  be  a  very 
good  place  indeed  for  man  and  his  children,  but 
after  awhile  all  kinds  of  unexpected  things  began 
to  happen.  The  strange  part  about  it  was  that 
man,  Prometheus'  mixture  of  clay  and  heavenly 
seed,  seemed  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  most  of  the 
trouble.  Men  used  the  axe  to  rob  the  forests  of 
timber  for  building  war  ships  and  fortifications 
around  the  towns,  and  they  forged  swords  and 
helmets  and  shields.  Seamen  spread  their  sails 
to  the  wind  to  vex  the  face  of  the  ocean.  Men 
were  not  satisfied  with  what  the  surface  of  the 
earth  could  give  them,  but  dug  deep  down  under- 


WONDER  STORIES  17 

neath  it  and  brought  up  gold  and  precious  stones 
about  which  they  fought  among  themselves,  each 
wanting  to  possess  more  than  his  neighbor.  The 
land  was  divided  into  shares  and  this  was  another 
cause  of  war,  for  each  landowner  wanted  to  take 
away  his  brother's  grant  and  add  it  to  his  own. 

Even  the  gods  began  to  augment  the  troubles 
of  the  earth. 

In  the  beginning,  before  the  forge  fires  were 
lighted,  there  had  been  a  Golden  Age.  Then 
the  fields  had  given  all  the  food  that  man  needed. 
Flowers  came  up  without  the  planting  of  seeds, 
the  rivers  flowed  with  milk,  and  thick,  yellow 
honey  was  distilled  by  the  honey  bees.  But  the 
gods  sent  the  Silver  Age,  not  so  pleasant  as  the 
one  of  gold.  Jupiter,  the  king  of  the  gods,  shor- 
tened the  spring  and  divided  the  year  into  sea- 
sons. Man  learned  then  what  it  was  to  be  too  cold 
in  the  winte  and  too  warm  in  the  summer.  Then 
came  the  Bronze  and  the  Iron  ages.  That  was 
when  war  and  greed  broke  out. 

Jupiter  decided  that  the  people  of  the  earth 
should  be  further  punished.  He  imprisoned  the 
north  wind  which  scatters  the  clouds  and  sent  out 


18  WONDER  STORIES 

the  south  wind  to  cover  the  face  of  the  sky  with 
pitchy  darkness.  The  clouds  were  driven  to- 
gether with  a  crash  and  torrents  of  rain  fell.  The 
crops  were  laid  low  so  that  all  the  year's  labor  of 
the  husbandman  was  destroyed.  Jupiter  even 
called  upon  his  brother,  Neptune,  who  was  the 
god  of  the  sea,  to  let  loose  the  rivers  and  pour 
them  over  the  land.  He  tore  the  land  with  an 
earthquake  so  that  even  the  sea  overflowed  its 
shores.  Such  a  flood  as  followed;  the  earth  was 
nearly  all  sea  without  shore!  The  hills  were  the 
only  land,  and  people  were  obliged  to  ride  from 
one  to  another  of  them  in  boats  while  the  fish 
swam  among  the  tree  tops.  If  an  anchor  was 
dropped,  it  found  a  place  in  a  garden.  Awkward 
sea-calves  gamboled  about  where  there  had  once 
been  lambs  playing  in  green  pastures;  wolves 
struggled  in  the  water  among  sheep,  and  yellow 
lions  and  tigers  were  submerged  by  the  rush  of 
the  sea. 

It  really  seemed  as  if  the  earth  was  about  to  be 
lost  in  a  second  chaos,  but  at  last  a  green  moun- 
tain peak  appeared  above  the  waste  that  the  waters 
had  made  and  on  it  a  man  and  woman  of  the  race 


WONDER  STORIES  19 

the  giant  Prometheus  had  made  took  refuge. 
Remembering  the  heavenly  seed  that  was  part 
of  their  birthright,  they  looked  up  toward  the  sky 
and  asked  Jupiter  to  take  pity  on  them.  Jupiter 
ordered  the  north  wind  to  drive  away  the  clouds, 
and  Neptune  sounded  his  horn  to  order  the  waters 
to  retreat.  The  waters  obeyed,  and  the  sea  re- 
turned to  its  basins. 

It  was  a  very  bare  and  desolate  earth  upon 
which  the  people  looked  down  from  the  Mount 
of  Parnassus.  They  had  not  forgotten  how  to 
build  and  mine  and  plant  and  harvest  and  keep 
a  home.  They  would  have  to  begin  things  all 
over  again,  they  knew,  and  there  were  two  ways 
of  going  about  it. 

One  way  would  be  to  leave  the  earth  the  desert 
place  which  it  now  was  and  try  to  wreak  ven- 
geance on  the  gods  for  the  destruction  they  had 
brought  upon  the  earth.  Prometheus,  the  Titan, 
still  lived  and  he  was  possessed  of  a  secret  by  means 
of  which  he  could  take  Jupiter's  throne  away 
from  him.  He  would  probably  never  have  used 
this  secret,  but  the  fact  that  he  had  it  came  to 
the  ears  of  the  mighty  Jupiter  and  caused  much 


20  WONDER  STORIES 

consternation  among  the  gods.  Jupiter  ordered 
Vulcan,  the  smith  of  the  gods,  to  forge  some  great 
links  for  a  heavy  chain.  With  these  he  chained 
Prometheus  to  a  rock  and  sent  a  vulture  to  eat 
his  flesh  which  grew  again  continually  so  that 
Prometheus  suffered  most  terrible  pain  as  the 
vulture  returned  each  day. 

His  torture  would  come  to  an  end  the  moment 
he  told  his  secret,  Jupiter  assured  Prometheus, 
but  the  giant  would  not  speak  because  of  the  harm 
his  words  might  cause  the  men  and  women  of 
earth.  He  suffered  there  without  any  rest,  and 
the  earth  began  to  take  on  its  former  guise  of  fer- 
tility and  prosperity  as  man  tried  to  bring  again 
the  Golden  Age  through  his  own  efforts.  And 
whenever  a  man  felt  like  giving  up  the  task,  which 
was  indeed  a  mighty  one,  he  would  think  of  Pro- 
metheus chained  to  the  rock.  His  flesh  that  came 
from  the  earth  was  the  prey  of  the  vulture,  but 
the  seed  of  the  gods  which  was  hidden  in  every 
mortal,  gave  him  strength  to  resist  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  wrong  and  bear  suffering. 

A  strange  old  story,  is  it  not?  But  it  is  also 
a  story  of  to-day.  Ours  is  the  same  earth  with  its 


WONDER  STORIES  21 

fertile  fields  and  wide  forests,  its  rich  mines  and 
its  wealth  of  flocks  and  herds.  They  are  all  given 
to  us,  just  as  the  gods  gave  them  to  the  first  men, 
for  the  development  of  peace  and  plenty.  And 
man,  himself,  is  still  a  mixture  of  earth  stuff  and 
something  else,  too,  that  Prometheus  called  heav- 
enly seed  and  we  call  soul.  When  selfishness 
and  greed  guide  our  uses  of  land  and  food  and  the 
metals  there  is  apt  to  be  pretty  nearly  as  bad  a 
time  on  the  earth  as  when  Jupiter  and  Neptune 
flooded  it.  But  there  is  always  a  chance  to  be 
a  Prometheus  who  can  forget  about  everything 
except  the  right,  and  so  help  in  bringing  again  the 
Golden  Age  of  the  gods  to  the  world. 


*THE  PARADISE  OF  CHILDREN 

Long,  long  ago,  when  this  old  world  was  in  its 
tender  infancy,  there  was  a  child  named  Epime- 
theus  who  never  had  either  father  or  mother;  and 
that  he  might  not  be  lonely,  another  child,  father- 
less and  motherless  like  himself,  was  sent  by  the 
gods  to  be  his  playfellow  and  helpmate.  Her 
name  was  Pandora. 

The  first  thing  that  Pandora  saw  when  she 
entered  the  cottage  where  Epimetheus  lived  was 
a  great  box.  And  almost  the  first  question  that 
she  put  to  him  was  this, 

"Epimetheus,  what  have  you  in  that  box?" 

"My  dear  little  Pandora,"  answered  Epimetheus, 
"that  is  a  secret,  and  you  must  be  kind  enough  not 
to  ask  any  questions  about  it.  The  box  was  left 
here  to  be  kept  safely,  and  I  do  not  myself  know 
what  it  contains." 

It  is  thousands  of  years  since  the  myths  tell  us 
that  Epimetheus  and  Pandora  lived;  and  the  world 

*  By  permission  of  and  special  arrangement  with  the  Houghton 
MifflinCo. 

22 


WONDER  STORIES  23 

now-a-days  is  a  very  different  sort  of  place  from 
what  it  was  then.  There  were  no  fathers  or  moth- 
ers to  take  care  of  the  children,  because  there  was 
no  danger  or  trouble  of  any  kind,  and  no  clothes 
to  be  mended,  and  there  was  plenty  to  eat  and 
drink.  Whenever  a  child  wanted  his  dinner,  he 
found  it  growing  on  a  tree.  It  was  a  very  pleas- 
ant life  indeed.  No  labor  had  to  be  done,  no  tasks 
studied,  all  was  sport  and  dancing  and  the  sweet 
voices  of  children  talking,  or  caroling  like  birds, 
or  laughing  merrily  all  day  long. 

But  Pandora  was  not  altogether  happy  on 
account  of  Epimetheus'  explanation  about  the 
box. 

"Where  can  it  have  come  from?"  she  continually 
asked  herself,  "and  what  on  earth  can  be  inside 
it?"  At  last  she  spoke  to  Epimetheus. 

"You  might  open  the  box,"  Pandora  said,  "and 
then  we  could  see  its  contents  for  ourselves." 

"Pandora,  what  are  you  thinking  of?"  Epime- 
theus exclaimed.  And  his  face  expressed  so  much 
horror  at  the  idea  of  looking  into  a  box,  which  had 
been  given  him  on  condition  that  he  never  open 
it,  that  Pandora  thought  it  best  not  to  suggest  it 


24  WONDER  STORIES 

any  more.  Still  she  could  not  help  thinking  and 
talking  about  it. 

"At  least,"  she  said,  "you  can  tell  me  how  it 
came  here." 

"It  was  left  at  the  door,"  Epimetheus  replied, 
"just  before  you  came  and  by  a  person  who  looked 
very  smiling  and  intelligent,  and  who  could  hardly 
keep  from  smiling  as  he  set  it  down.  He  was 
dressed  in  an  odd  kind  of  a  cloak,  and  had  on  a 
cap  that  seemed  to  be  made  partly  of  feathers  so 
that  it  looked  as  if  it  had  wings." 

"What  sort  of  a  staff  had  he?"  asked  Pandora. 

"Oh,  the  most  curious  staff  that  you  ever  saw!" 
cried  Epimetheus.  "It  was  like  two  serpents 
twisting  around  a  stick,  and  was  carved  so  naturally 
that  I,  at  first,  thought  the  serpents  were  alive." 

"I  know  him,"  said  Pandora  thoughtfully.  "No- 
body else  has  such  a  staff.  It  was  Mercury,  and 
he  brought  me  here  as  well  as  the  box.  No  doubt 
he  intended  it  for  me,  and  most  probably  it  con- 
tains pretty  dresses  for  me  to  wear,  or  toys  for 
us  both,  or  something  nice  for  us  to  eat." 

"Perhaps  so,"  answered  Epimetheus,  turning 
away,  "but  until  Mercury  comes  back  and  gives 


WONDER  STORIES  25 

his  permission,  we  have  neither  of  us  any  right 
to  lift  the  lid." 

One  day  not  long  after  that  Epimetheus  went  to 
gather  figs  and  grapes  by  himself  without  asking 
Pandora.  Ever  since  she  had  come  he  had  heard 
about  that  box,  nothing  but  the  box,  and  he  was 
tired  of  it.  And  as  soon  as  he  was  gone,  Pandora 
kneeled  down  on  the  floor  and  looked  intently  at 
it. 

It  was  made  of  a  beautiful  kind  of  wood,  and  was 
so  highly  polished  that  Pandora  could  see  her  face 
in  It.  The  edges  and  corners  were  carved  with 
most  wonderful  skill.  Around  the  edge  there 
were  figures  of  graceful  men  and  women  and  the 
prettiest  children  ever  seen,  reclining  or  playing 
in  gardens  and  forests.  The  most  beautiful  face 
of  all  was  done  in  high  relief  in  the  centre  of  the 
box.  There  was  nothing  else  save  the  dark,  rich 
smoothness  of  the  wood  and  this  one  face  with  a 
garland  of  flowers  about  its  brow.  The  features 
had  a  kind  of  mischievous  expression  with  all  their 
loveliness  and  if  the  mouth  had  spoken  it  would 
probably  have  said, 

"Do  not  be  afraid  Pandora!    What  harm  can 


26  WONDER  STORIES 

there  be  in  opening  a  box.  Never  mind  that  poor, 
simple  Epimetheus.  You  are  wiser  than  he  and 
have  ten  times  as  much  courage.  Open  the  box 
and  see  if  you  do  not  find  something  very  pretty." 

And  on  this  particular  day,  when  Pandora  was 
alone,  her  curiosity  grew  so  great  that  at  last  she 
touched  the  box.  She  was  more  than  half  deter- 
mined to  open  it  if  she  could. 

First,  however,  she  tried  to  lift  it.  It  was  heavy, 
much  too  heavy  for  the  slender  strength  of  a  child 
like  Pandora.  She  raised  one  end  of  the  box  a 
few  inches  from  the  floor,  and  then  let  it  fall  with 
a  pretty  loud  thump.  A  moment  afterward  she 
almost  thought  that  she  heard  something  stir  in- 
side the  box.  She  was  not  quite  sure  whether  she 
heard  it  or  not,  but  her  curiosity  grew  stronger 
than  ever.  Suddenly  her  eyes  fell  on  a  curious 
knot  of  gold  that  tied  it.  She  took  it  in  her  fingers 
and,  almost  without  intending  it,  she  was  soon 
busily  engaged  in  trying  to  undo  it. 

It  was  a  very  intricate  knot  indeed,  but  at  last, 
by  the  merest  accident,  Pandora  gave  the  cord  a 
kind  of  twist  and  it  unwound  itself,  as  if  by  magic. 
The  box  was  without  a  fastening. 


Pandora  saw  a  crowd  of  ugly  little  shapes. 


WONDER  STORIES  27 

"This  Is  the  strangest  thing  I  ever  knew,"  Pan- 
dora said.  "What  will  Epimetheus  say?  And  how 
can  I  possibly  tie  it  again?" 

And  then  the  thought  came  into  her  naughty 
little  heart  that,  since  she  would  be  suspected  of 
looking  into  the  box,  she  might  as  well  do  so  at 
once. 

As  Pandora  raised  the  lid  of  the  box  the  cottage 
was  suddenly  darkened,  for  a  black  cloud  had  swept 
quite  over  the  sun  and  seemed  to  have  buried  it 
alive.  There  had,  for  a  little  while  past,  been  a 
low  growling  and  grumbling  which  all  at  once 
broke  into  a  heavy  peal  of  thunder.  But  Pandora 
heeded  nothing  of  all  this.  She  lifted  the  lid 
nearly  upright  and  looked  inside.  It  seemed  as 
if  a  sudden  swarm  of  winged  creatures  brushed 
past  her,  taking  flight  out  of  the  box  while,  at  the 
same  time,  she  heard  the  voice  of  Epimetheus  in 
the  doorway  exclaiming  as  if  he  was  in  pain, 

"Oh,  I  am  stung  I  I  am  stung!  Naughty  Pan- 
dora, why  have  you  opened  this  wicked  box?" 

Pandora  let  fall  the  lid  and  looked  up  to  see 
what  had  befallen  Epimetheus.  The  thundercloud 
had  so  darkened  the  room  that  she  could  not 


28  WONDER  STORIES 

clearly  see  what  was  in  it  But  she  heard  a  dis- 
agreeable buzzing,  as  if  a  great  many  huge  flies  or 
giant  bees  were  darting  about.  And  as  her  eyes 
grew  accustomed  to  the  dimness  she  saw  a  crowd  of 
ugly  little  shapes,  looking  very  spiteful,  and  having 
bats'  wings  and  terribly  long  stings  in  their  tails. 
It  was  one  of  these  that  had  strung  Epimetheus. 
Nor  was  it  a  great  while  after  before  Pandora 
herself  began  to  cry.  An  odious  little  monster 
had  settled  on  her  forehead,  and  would  have  stung 
her  very  deeply  if  Epimetheus  had  not  run  and 
brushed  it  away. 

Now,  if  you  wish  to  know  what  these  ugly  things 
were  that  made  their  escape  out  of  the  box,  I  must 
tell  you  that  they  were  the  whole  family  of  earthly 
Troubles.  There  were  evil  Passions.  There  were 
a  great  many  species  of  Cares.  There  were  more 
than  a  hundred  and  fifty  Sorrows.  There  were 
Diseases  in  a  vast  number  of  strange  and  painful 
shapes.  There  were  more  kinds  of  Naughtiness 
than  it  would  be  of  any  kind  of  use  to  talk  about. 
In  short,  everything  that  has  since  afflicted  the 
souls  and  bodies  of  mankind  had  been  shut  up  in 
the  mysterious  box  given  to  Epimetheus  and  Pan- 


WONDER  STORIES 


dora  to  be  kept  safely  in  order  that  the  happy 
children  of  the  world  might  never  be  molested  by 
them.  Had  they  been  faithful  to  their  trust  all 
would  have  gone  well  with  them.  No  grown  per- 
son would  ever  have  been  sad,  nor  any  child  have 
had  cause  to  shed  a  single  tear,  from  that  hour 
until  this  moment. 

But  it  was  impossible  that  the  two  children 
should  keep  the  ugly  swarm  in  their  own  little 
cottage.  Pandora  flung  open  the  windows  and 
doors  to  try  and  get  rid  of  them  and,  sure  enough, 
away  flew  the  winged  Troubles  and  so  pestered 
and  tormented  the  people  everywhere  about  that 
none  of  them  so  much  as  smiled  for  many  days 
afterward.  And  the  children  of  the  earth,  who 
before  had  seemed  ageless,  now  grew  older,  day 
by  day,  and  came  soon  to  be  youths  and  maidens, 
and  men  and  women,  and  then  old  folks,  before 
they  dreamed  of  such  a  thing. 

Meanwhile,  the  naughty  Pandora  and  Epi- 
metheus  remained  in  their  cottage.  Both  of  them 
had  been  painfully  stung.  Epimetheus  sat  down 
sullenly  in  a  corner  with  his  back  to  Pandora. 
As  for  poor  little  Pandora,  she  flung  herself  upon 


30  WONDER  STORIES 

the  floor  and  rested  her  head  on  the  fatal  box. 
She  was  crying  as  if  her  heart  would  break.  Sud- 
denly there  was  a  gentle  little  tap  on  the  inside 
of  the  lid. 

"What  can  that  be?"  cried  Pandora,  lifting  her 
head. 

But  Epimetheus  was  too  much  out  of  humor  to 
answer  her. 

Again  the  tap!  It  sounded  like  the  tiny  knuckles 
of  a  fairy's  hand. 

"Who  are  you?'*  asked  Pandora,  "who  are  you 
inside  of  this  dreadful  box?" 

A  sweet  little  voice  came  from  within  saying, 

"Only  lift  the  lid  and  you  shall  see." 

"No,  no,"  answered  Pandora,  "I  have  had  enough 
of  lifting  the  lid.  You  need  never  think  that  I 
shall  be  so  foolish  as  to  let  you  out." 

"Ah,"  said  the  sweet  little  voice  again,  "you 
had  much  better  let  me  out.  I  am  not  like  those 
naughty  creatures  that  have  stings  in  their  tails. 
They  have  no  relation  to  me  as  you  would  soon 
find  out  if  you  would  only  lift  the  lid." 

Indeed,  there  was  a  kind  of  cheerful  witchery 
in  the  tone  that  made  it  almost  impossible  to  re- 


WONDER  STORIES  31 

fuse  anything  which  this  little  voice  asked.  Pan- 
dora's heart  had  grown  lighter  at  every  word  that 
came  from  the  box.  Epimetheus,  too,  had  left  his 
corner  and  seemed  to  be  in  better  spirits. 

"  Epimetheus  1"  exclaimed  Pandora,  "come  what 
may,  I  am  resolved  to  lift  the  lid." 

"And  as  the  lid  seems  very  heavy,"  said  Epi- 
metheus, running  across  the  room,  "I  will  help 
you." 

So,  with  one  consent,  the  two  children  lifted  the 
lid.  Out  flew  a  sunny  and  smiling  little  person- 
age and  hovered  about  the  room,  throwing  light 
wherever  she  went.  Have  you  ever  made  the 
sunshine  dance  into  dark  corners  by  reflecting 
it  from  a  bit  of  looking  glass?  Well,  so  appeared 
the  winged  cheerfulness  of  this  fairylike  stranger 
amid  the  gloom  of  the  cottage.  She  flew  to  Epi- 
metheus and  laid  the  least  touch  of  her  finger  on 
the  inflamed  spot  where  the  Trouble  had  stung 
him  and  immediately  the  pain  of  it  was  gone. 
Then  she  kissed  Pandora  on  the  forehead  and  her 
hurt  was  cured  likewise. 

"Who  are  you,  beautiful  creature?"  asked  Pan- 
dora. 


32  WONDER  STORIES 

"I  am  to  be  called  Hope,"  explained  the  sun- 
shiny figure,  "and  because  I  am  such  a  cheerful 
person,  I  was  packed  by  the  gods  into  the  box 
to  make  amends  for  the  swarm  of  ugly  Troubles. 
Never  fear!  We  shall  do  pretty  well  in  spite  of 
them." 

"Your  wings  are  colored  like  the  rainbow,"  ex- 
claimed Pandora,  "How  beautiful!" 

"And  will  you  stay  with  us,"  asked  Epimetheus, 
"forever  and  ever?" 

"As  long  as  you  need  me,"  said  Hope,  "and  that 
will  be  as  long  as  you  live  in  the  world.  I  promise 
never  to  desert  you." 

So  Pandora  and  Epimetheus  found  Hope,  and  so 
has  everybody  else  who  has  trusted  her  since  that 
day.  The  Troubles  are  still  flying  around  the 
world,  but  we  have  that  lovely  and  lightsome 
fairy,  Hope,  to  cure  their  stings  and  make  the 
world  new  for  us. 


WHAT  BECAME  OF  THE  GIANTS 

The  giants  had  decided  to  invade  Mount  Olym- 
pus. They  thought  they  could  easily  do  this,  for 
there  were  none  of  the  gods  who  could  hurt  them; 
the  giants  were  proof  against  all  their  weapons. 
They  believed  that  this  wonderful  place  among  the 
clouds  was  theirs  by  right  just  because  they  were 
larger  and  stronger  than  the  heroes.  If  the  gods 
refused  to  give  up  their  abode  with  its  palaces,  the 
gilded  car  of  day,  its  stores  of  food  such  as  had 
never  been  tasted  by  mortals  and  its  weapons,  the 
thunder  and  lightning,  the  giants  were  going  to 
destroy  the  Mount.  That  would  have  been  a  pity, 
for  with  Mount  Olympus  would  go  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  foundations  the  world  has  ever  known. 

There  was  one  of  the  gods,  Apollo,  who  held  the 
light  of  the  whole  universe  in  his  right  hand.  It 
was  not  only  that  of  the  sun,  but  the  light  that 
shone  in  the  hearts  of  the  Greeks  and  made  life 
brighter  when  they  had  wisdom,  and  knew  truth, 
and  could  appreciate  beauty.  There  was  no  ques- 
33 


34  WONDER  STORIES 

tion  at  all  about  this  light  being  Apollo's  and  com- 
ing as  a  gift  to  men  from  Mount  Olympus,  because 
of  his  great  deeds. 

There  was  a  deep  cavern  on  the  green  hillside  of 
Parnassus  in  Greece  where  a  goat  herd,  passing  by 
its  mouth  in  ancient  times,  had  inhaled  a  strange 
fragrance  that  had  made  him  able  to  speak  with 
the  knowledge  of  a  seer.  Apollo  decided  to  pre- 
serve this  cave.  The  city  of  Delphi  grew  around 
it  and  Apollo  sent  a  priestess  crowned  with  laurel 
to  be  its  oracle  and  welcome  those  mortals  who 
wanted  to  breathe  its  magic  air.  But  a  monster 
of  darkness,  the  Python,  placed  itself  in  front  of 
the  oracle  and  allowed  no  man  to  approach  Delphi. 

Apollo,  with  his  shaft  of  light,  drove  away  the 
Python  and  made  it  possible  for  any  one  who 
wanted  better  eyesight  or  keener  hearing  or  more 
truthful  speech  to  come  to  the  oracle. 

That  was  not  all,  either,  that  Apollo  had  accom- 
plished for  the  good  of  men.  He  protected  the 
Muses,  who  were  the  daughters  of  Jupiter  and 
Memory  and  could  do  all  sorts  of  things  to  make 
happiness.  They  could  sing,  and  draw  music 
from  the  strings  of  the  lire,  write  stories  and  poems, 


WONDER  STORIES  35 

and  paint  pictures.  It  was  said,  also,  that  the 
laurel  tree  belonged  to  Apollo  for  making  wreaths 
with  which  to  crown  those  who  had  done  great 
deeds  or  made  dark  paths  bright. 

But  the  giants  could  see  little  value  in  Apollo's 
light.  They  thought  mainly  of  how  to  wrest  riches 
and  nectar  and  ambrosia  from  the  gods,  and  they 
decided  to  try  and  kill  Apollo  and  the  Muses  first 
of  all. 

Thessaly  had  the  wildest  forests  and  the  most 
rocky  coasts  of  any  part  of  Greece.  It  was  a 
fitting  place  for  the  giants  to  meet,  and  it  must 
have  been  a  terrible  sight  when  they  landed  and 
formed  their  ranks  for  battle.  They  say  that 
Tityus,  one  of  their  leaders,  covered  nine  acres 
when  he  lay  down  for  a  nap  on  a  plain.  Certain 
others  had  a  hundred  arms,  limbs  made  of  huge 
serpents  and  could  breathe  fire.  The  worst  part 
about  this  race  of  giants  was  the  fact  that  their 
hearts  were  different  from  those  of  the  celestials 
and  the  mortals.  They  had  hearts  made  of  solid 
stone  which  could  never  beat  and  feel  warm.  That 
was  why  the  giants  made  preparations  to  climb  up 
the  steep  sides  of  Mount  Olympus. 


36  WONDER  STORIES 

No  one  in  all  Greece  dared  to  try  and  stop  this 
war  of  the  giants.  They  pulled  up  the  mountain 
Ossa  and  balanced  it  on  top  of  Pel  ion  to  bridge 
the  way  from  the  earth  to  the  sky.  They  armed 
themselves  by  tearing  up  great  oak  and  cypress 
trees  for  clubs  and  carrying  rocks  as  large  as  small 
hills  with  them.  Then  the  giants  climbed  up  and 
attacked  the  habitation  of  the  gods. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  giants  were  going  to  win, 
for  even  the  gods  were  frightened  and  made  haste 
to  change  their  forms.  The  mighty  Jupiter  took 
upon  himself  the  figure  of  a  ram.  Apollo  became  a 
crow,  Diana  a  cat,  Juno  a  cow,  Venus  a  fish  and 
Mercury  a  bird.  But  Mars,  the  god  of  war,  got 
out  his  chariot  and  went  to  meet  the  giants,  and 
the  others  returned  at  last,  for  there  was  really 
no  courage  like  theirs. 

The  battle  was  still  with  the  giants,  though,  for 
no  weapons  could  kill  them.  Mars  threw  his 
spears  and  they  rebounded  from  the  stone  hearts 
of  the  giants.  No  one  knew  what  would  happen, 
for  certain  of  the  giants  went  down  to  the  earth 
again  and  brought  up  hills  with  which  to  crush  the 
habitations  of  the  gods,  but  just  then  a  great  idea 


WONDER  STORIES  37 

came  to  Apollo.  He  believed  that  there  were 
unseen  forces  which  were  quite  as  powerful  as 
the  giants*  trees  and  rocks  and  hills  in  deciding  this 
battle.  So  Apollo  sent  Mercury,  the  messenger 
with  winged  shoes,  post  haste  with  a  secret  mes- 
sage to  Helios  who  lived  in  the  palace  of  the  sun 
commanding  him  to  close  and  lock  the  doors. 
There  was  no  light  for  the  giants  to  fight  by  and 
they  were  well  known  to  be  hulking,  awkward 
creatures,  very  clumsy  about  using  their  hands 
and  feet  They  needed  the  light.  They  had  even 
made  attempts  to  steal  the  summer  from  mortals 
that  they  might  have  more  sunshine  themselves 
and  they  had  succeeded  in  a  way,  for  winter  came 
upon  the  earth  every  year  with  its  cold  and  shorter 
days.  But  the  giants  had  neglected  to  bring  any 
sunshine  with  them  and  it  was  suddenly  as  dark  as 
night  on  Mount  Olympus. 

The  giants  fumbled  about  and  stumbled  and  fell 
upon  their  own  weapons.  Taking  advantage  of 
this  temporary  rout,  Jupiter  sent  a  sky  full  of 
thunderbolts  into  their  midst  and  they  tumbled 
back  to  earth  again.  It  was  odd,  but  Apollo, 
whom  the  giants  had  thought  so  unessential  be- 


38  WONDER  STORIES 

cause  he  protected  knowledge  and  the  oracle  of 
Delphi  and  the  tender  Muses,  had  conquered 
with  his  own  special  weapon,  light. 

The  giants  were  not  particularly  hurt  by  their 
fall;  they  were  only  driven  out  of  the  habitation 
of  the  gods  and  they  began  taking  counsel  together 
at  once  as  to  how  they  might  begin  their  war  all 
over  again.  But  they  suddenly  discovered  that 
they  had  nothing  to  eat.  In  their  absence,  Ceres 
had  cut  down  and  uprooted  from  the  earth  the 
herbs  that  they  needed  to  keep  them  alive  and 
preserve  their  strength.  Then,  to  make  sure  that 
their  destruction  would  be  complete,  Jupiter  cov- 
ered each  giant  with  a  volcano.  Each  was  im- 
prisoned fast  underneath  a  mountain,  and  all  he 
could  do  was  to  breathe  through  the  top  once  in 
a  while  in  a  fiery  way. 

That  was  the  end  of  the  giants.  For  a  while 
they  did  some  damage,  particularly  the  giant 
Enceladus  whom  it  took  the  whole  of  the  volcano 
Aetna  to  cover  and  keep  down.  But  gradually  even 
the  volcanoes  became  quiet  and  there  was  more 
peace  upon  the  earth. 

Mortals,   for  all   time,   though,   have  followed 


WONDER  STORIES  89 

the  example  of  the  giants  and  have  tried  to  use 
their  strength  in  battle  for  pillage.  They  have 
destroyed  beautiful  buildings  and  put  out  home 
fires  and  interfered  with  teaching  and  music  and 
painting  and  writing,  because  they  could  not  see 
the  light  shining  in  these.  But  what  usually 
happens  to  them  in  the  end  is  just  what  hap- 
pened to  the  giants  who  started  out  to  destroy 
Mount  Olympus.  They  find  that  they  have  pulled 
a  volcano  down  over  their  shoulders. 


HOW     VULCAN     MADE     THE     BEST     OF 
THINGS 

No  one  wanted  Vulcan  at  Olympus  because 
he  was  a  cripple.  His  mother,  Juno,  was  ashamed 
of  him,  and  his  father,  the  great  Jupiter,  had  the 
same  kind  of  feeling,  that  it  was  a  disgrace  to 
have  a  son  who  was  misshapen  and  must  always 
limp  as  he  took  his  way  among  the  other  straight 
limbed  gods. 

But  Vulcan  had  a  desire  to  be  of  service  to  his 
fellows.  There  was  once  an  assemblage  of  the 
gods  at  which  they  were  to  discuss  important 
matters  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  Vulcan  offered 
his  help  as  cup  bearer  for  the  company.  He  made 
a  droll  figure  hobbling  from  seat  to  seat  with  the 
great  golden  cup,  and  some  of  the  gods  laughed 
at  him. 

At  last  they  threw  Vulcan  out  of  the  skies  and 
he  fell  for  an  entire  day,  so  far  was  it  from  Olympus 
to  the  earth.  Near  sunset  he  found  himself  ly- 
ing on  the  ground  beside  a  smoking  mountain, 
40 


WONDER  STORIES  41 

bruised  and  more  handicapped  than  he  had  ever 
been  before.  He  had  fallen  to  the  island  of  Lemnos 
in  the  Aegean  Sea. 

It  was  a  bare,  unbeautiful  place,  for  the  coast 
was  set  thick  with  volcanoes  that  poured  forth 
burning  metal  at  intervals  from  one  year's  end  to 
another.  The  Sintians,  who  were  the  only  inhabi- 
tants of  the  island  of  Lemnos,  had  scant  means  of 
subsistence  because  the  land  was  unfertile  and  few 
ships  dared  anchor  at  their  shores  under  the  rain 
of  fire  from  the  volcano  that  might  destroy  them. 
These  people  of  Lemnos  were  a  kind,  simple  folk, 
though,  and  they  had  a  great  pity  for  Vulcan. 
They  gathered  about  him  and  bound  up  his  wounds 
with  healing  herbs.  They  shared  their  scanty 
store  of  fruit  with  him,  and  they  hastened  to  pre- 
pare him  a  tent.  But  when  the  Sintians  returned 
to  the  foot  of  the  mountain  Mosychlos  where  they 
had  left  Vulcan  he  was  gone. 

"We  dreamed  of  this  visitor  from  the  gods," 
they  decided.  "It  was  only  a  falling  star  that  we 
watched,  dropped  from  the  zenith." 

Seasons  passed  and  at  last  it  was  noticed  that  the 
fiery  Mosychlos  was  only  smoking.  It  no  longer 


42  WONDER  STORIES 

threatened  the  lives  of  the  inhabitants  of  Lemnos 
with  its  red  hot  torrents.  The  same  fact  was  to 
be  noted  about  the  other  volcanoes;  they  seemed 
more  like  the  smoking,  sooty  chimneys  of  our 
factories  of  to-day  than  the  towers  of  death  they 
had  been  before.  And  above  the  sound  of  the 
surf  and  the  wailing  of  the  wind  there  could  be 
heard  a  new  sound,  the  steady  beating  of  a  hammer 
on  metal  as  a  smith  strikes  his  ringing  blows  from 
morning  until  night. 

The  bolder  of  the  people  of  Lemnos  went  to  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  and  discovered,  to  their 
amazement,  that  the  rock  opened  like  a  door. 
They  went  inside,  following  the  sound  of  the  ham- 
mer. In  the  very  depths  of  the  mountain  they 
saw  a  sight  that  had  never  been  seen  on  earth 
before.  There  was  a  dark  smithy  in  the  heart 
of  the  burning  mountain  with  a  forge  fire  in  which 
the  power  of  the  volcano  burned,  a  great  forge 
upon  which  Vulcan  was  shaping  metal  into  things 
of  dazzling  beauty,  and  all  about  the  smithy  were 
the  materials  for  making  more;  white  steel,  glowing 
copper,  shining  silver,  and  burnished  brass  and 
gold 


WONDER  STORIES  43 

A  strange  company  of  apprentices,  the  Cyclopes, 
served  Vulcan  here.  They  had  once  been  shep- 
herds, but  their  peaceful  occupation  had  been  taken 
away  from  them  because  they  had  neglected  to 
pay  tribute  to  Apollo.  Each  had  but  a  single 
eye,  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead,  but 
they  were  using  their  great  strength  in  the  smithy 
of  Vulcan  to  forge  thunderbolts  for  Jupiter,  to  make 
a  trident  for  Neptune  and  a  quiver  of  arrows  for 
Apollo.  Beside  Vulcan  stood  two  wonderful  hand- 
maidens of  gold,  who,  like  living  creatures,  moved 
about  and  helped  the  lame  smith  as  he  worked. 

Vulcan,  the  despised  of  the  gods,  had  chained 
fire  and  conquered  the  metals  of  the  earth  that 
he  might  make  gifts  for  the  gods  and  for  the  heroes. 

Wonderful  objects  appeared  at  the  doorway 
of  Vulcan's  shop  and  were  carried  to  Mount 
Olympus.  He  shaped  golden  shoes,  wearing  which, 
the  celestials  were  able  to  walk  upon  land  or  sea, 
and  travel  faster  than  thought  flies.  He  made  gold 
chairs  and  tables  which  could  move  without  hands 
in  and  out  of  the  halls  of  the  gods.  The  celestial 
steeds  were  brought  to  Vulcan  at  Lemnos  and  he 
shod  them  so  cleverly  with  brass  that  they  were 


WONDER  STORIES 


able  to  whirl  the  chariots  of  the  gods  through  the 
air  or  on  the  waters  with  all  the  speed  of  the  wind. 
He  was  even  shaping  brass  columns  for  the  houses 
of  the  gods.  Vulcan  had  become  the  architect, 
smith,  armorer,  chariot-builder  and  the  artist  of 
all  the  work  in  Mount  Olympus. 

He  was  accomplishing  more  than  this.  Because 
he  had  captured  fire  and  made  the  metals  of  the 
earth  serve  the  ends  of  peace,  the  island  of  Lemnos 
became  a  safe,  fertile  land.  Vineyards  were  planted 
and  yielded  rich  harvests,  flocks  fed  in  green  mead- 
ows, and  Vulcan  forged  tools  with  which  agricul- 
ture could  be  carried  on.  Ships  from  the  other 
islands  of  Greece  sailed  to  Lemnos  and  commerce, 
the  strength  of  a  nation,  began. 

In  those  days  there  was  a  great  war  being  waged 
between  the  Trojans  and  the  Greeks,  and  many 
hearts  beat  with  hope  at  the  prowess  of  a  young 
Greek  hero,  Achilles.  Hector,  at  the  head  of  the 
Trojans,  had  stormed  the  Greek  camp  and  set  fire 
to  many  of  their  ships.  A  captain  of  the  Greeks 
begged  Achilles  to  lend  him  his  armor  that  he  might 
lead  the  soldiers  against  the  forces  of  Troy. 

"They  may  think  me,  in  your  mail,  the  brave 


WONDER  STORIES  45 

Achilles,"  he  said,  "and  pause  from  fighting,  and 
the  warlike  sons  of  Greece,  tired  as  they  are,  may 
breathe  once  more  and  gain  a  respite  from  the 
conflict." 

So  Achilles  loaned  this  captain,  Patroclus,  his 
radiant  armor  and  his  chariot,  and  marshalled  his 
men  to  follow  into  the  field.  At  first  the  assault 
was  successful,  but  there  came  a  change  of  for- 
tune. Patroclus'  chariot  driver  was  killed;  then 
he  met  Hector  in  single  combat,  at  the  same  time 
receiving  a  spear  thrust  at  the  back.  So  Patroclus 
fell,  mortally  wounded,  and  it  was  a  great  sorrow 
as  well  as  a  tragedy  for  Greece,  for  Patroclus  had 
been  Achilles'  beloved  friend,  and  Hector  stole 
the  armor  of  Achilles  from  his  body.  News  of 
the  defeat  went  even  to  Mount  Olympus  and 
Jupiter  covered  all  the  heavens  with  a  black  cloud. 

But  Thetis,  the  mother  of  Achilles,  hastened  to 
the  smithy  of  Vulcan  and  told  him  that  her  son 
was  in  sore  straits,  having  no  suit  of  mail.  She 
found  the  lame  artisan  of  the  gods  at  his  forge, 
sweating  and  toiling,  and  with  busy  hands  plying 
the  bellows.  But  Vulcan  laid  by  his  work  at 
once  to  weld  a  splendid  suit  of  armor  for  Achilles. 


46  WONDER  STORIES 

There  was,  first  of  all,  a  shield  decorated  with  the 
insignia  of  war;  then  a  helmet  crested  with  gold 
and  a  corselet  and  greaves  of  metal  so  tempered 
that  no  dart  could  penetrate  them.  The  task 
was  done  in  a  night  and  Thetis  carried  the  armor 
to  her  son  and  laid  it  at  his  feet  at  dawn  of  the  next 
day.  No  man  before  had  ever  worn  such  sumptuous 
armor. 

Arrayed  in  Vulcan's  mail  Achilles  went  forth  to 
battle,  and  the  bravest  of  the  Trojan  warriors 
fled  before  him  or  fell  under  his  spear.  Achilles, 
his  armor  flashing  lightning,  and  he,  himself,  as 
terrible  as  Mars,  pursued  the  entire  army  as  far 
as  the  gates  of  Troy.  His  triumph  would  have 
been  complete,  but  he  had  an  enemy  among  the 
company  of  the  gods  on  Mount  Olympus.  No 
arrow  shot  by  the  hand  of  man  could  have  hurt 
Achilles,  but  Apollo's  shaft  wounded  him  mor- 
tally. Apollo  and  Mars  were  then,  and  will  be 
for  ail  time,  enemies;  light  and  music  and  song 
have  no  sympathy  with  war. 

And  Achilles,  having  been  taken  from  the  battle- 
fields of  earth  by  a  dart  which  Apollo  directed, 
was  carried  to  Olympus  along  a  bright  pathway 


WONDER  STORIES  47 

through  the  skies.  On  his  way  he  stopped  at  the 
palace  of  the  sun.  It  was  reared  on  stately  col- 
umns that  glittered  with  gold  and  precious  stones. 
The  ceilings  were  of  ivory,  polished  and  carved, 
and  all  the  doors  were  of  silver.  There  were  pic- 
tures on  the  walls  that  surpassed  in  their  lines 
and  colors  the  work  of  artists  upon  the  earth.  The 
whole  world,  the  sea  and  the  skies  with  their  in- 
habitants were  pictured.  Nymphs  played  in  the 
sea,  rode  on  the  backs  of  fishes  or  sat  on  the  rocks 
and  dried  their  long  hair.  The  earth  was  lovely 
with  its  forests  and  rivers  and  valleys.  There  was 
a  picture  of  Spring  crowned  with  flowers.  Summer 
wore  a  garland  made  of  the  heads  of  ripe,  golden 
grain.  Autumn  carried  his  arms  full  of  grapes, 
and  Winter  wore  a  mantle  of  bright  ice  and  snow. 
Seeing  this  beauty,  the  hero  forgot  his  wound. 

Achilles  had  been  obliged  to  leave  his  armor 
on  the  earth,  an  inheritance  for  other  brave  heroes 
who  were  to  take  his  place  in  the  siege  of  Troy,  but 
Apollo  had  shown  him  the  greatest  work  of  Vulcan. 
It  was  the  crippled  one  of  the  gods  who  had  built 
this  palace  of  the  sun. 


HOW  ORION  FOUND  HIS  SIGHT 

Neptune,  the  burly  old  god  of  the  sea,  had  a  son 
named  Orion  who  was  almost  as  fond  of  the  woods 
as  he  was  of  the  ocean.  From  the  time  when  Orion 
was  old  enough  to  catch  a  sea  horse  and  ride  on  its 
back  to  shore  he  was  gone  from  his  home  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea  for  days  at  a  time.  When  Nep- 
tune blew  his  conch-shell  to  call  the  runaway  home, 
Orion  would  return  regretfully  with  the  tales  of 
the  bear  he  had  seen  in  the  forest  or  the  comb  of 
wild  honey  he  had  found  in  an  old  oak  tree. 

Neptune  wanted  Orion  to  be  happy,  so  he  be- 
stowed upon  him  at  last  the  power  of  wading  as 
far  and  in  as  deep  water  as  he  liked.  No  one  had 
ever  been  able  to  wade  right  through  the  fathom- 
less ocean  before,  but  Orion  could  be  seen  any 
day,  his  dark  head  showing  above  the  surface  of 
the  waters,  and  his  feet  paddling  beneath  with- 
out touching  the  bottom.  He  was  not  obliged  to 
depend  any  more  upon  his  father's  chariot  or  the 
dolphins  or  the  sea  horses  to  carry  him  to  shore. 
48 


WONDER  STORIES  49 

So  Orion  began  to  spend  a  good  deal  of  his  time 
on  land,  and  as  he  grew  up  to  be  a  youth  he  be- 
came a  mighty  hunter.  His  arrows  seemed  to  have 
been  charmed  by  Diana,  so  swift  and  sure  they 
were.  And  every  day  Orion  bagged  great  spoils 
of  game  and  deer. 

He  was  making  his  way  through  the  forest  one 
day  with  a  mighty  bear  that  he  had  just  slain  over 
his  shoulder  when  he  came  suddenly  upon  a  clear- 
ing and  in  its  midst  there  stood  a  fair  white  castle, 
its  towers  reaching  above  the  pine  trees  toward 
the  sky.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  great  wall,  and 
when  Orion  approached  and  asked  the  gatekeeper 
why  it  was  so  fortified,  he  was  told  that  the  king 
of  that  country  who  lived  in  it  was  in  constant 
terror,  day  and  night,  of  wild  beasts. 

"He  would  give  half  of  his  kingdom  to  whoever 
could  rid  the  forest  of  its  ravening  beasts,"  the 
gatekeeper  told  Orion. 

As  Orion  listened,  he  glanced  up  at  a  window  of 
one  of  the  castle  towers  and  there  he  saw  the  face 
of  the  king's  daughter,  Merope,  looking  down  at 
him.  Hers  was  a  bright  face,  the  blue  eyes  and 
smiling  lips  framed  in  her  hair  which  fell  in  a  golden 


50  WONDER  STORIES 

shower  and  wrapped  her  about  like  a  cloak.  Orion 
delighted  in  the  thought  that  Merope  was  smiling 
at  him,  although  her  eyes  were  really  looking  be- 
yond this  uncouth  son  of  the  sea  and  as  far  as 
the  shores  of  Corinth  where  the  heroes  set  sail 
for  their  adventures. 

"Would  the  king,  by  any  chance,  do  you  think, 
give  his  daughter,  Merope,  to  that  hunter  who 
rids  the  forest  of  wild  beasts?"  Orion  asked. 

The  gatekeeper  looked  at  Orion's  shaggy  hair, 
his  bare  feet  and  his  mantle,  made  of  a  lion's  skin. 
He  turned  away  to  conceal  a  smile  as  he  answered. 

"One  could  ask  the  king,"  he  said. 

Orion  returned  to  the  deep  places  where  the 
night  was  made  terrible  by  the  crying  of  those 
beasts  of  prey  that  hunted  for  men,  and  Neptune 
did  not  see  his  son  for  many  moons.  Orion  shot 
lions  and  wrestled  single-handed  with  bears.  He 
strangled  great  snakes  with  his  own  brawny  hands 
and  he  hunted  the  wolf  and  the  tiger  with  his 
spear.  When  the  forest  was  rid  of  the  pest  of 
these  man-eating  creatures,  Orion  returned  to 
the  castle  in  the  clearing,  not  waiting  even  to 
wash  the  gore  of  his  mighty  hunting  from  his 


WONDER  STORIES  51 

hands  and  garments,  and  he  presented  himself 
to  the  king. 

"The  forest  is  free  of  wild  beasts  that  kill,  O 
King,"  Orion  said.  "You  may  tear  down  your 
ramparts  and  walk  in  safety  among  the  trees.  As 
my  reward  for  the  great  deed  I  have  done,  I  ask 
the  hand  of  your  daughter,  Merope.  I  would 
take  her  home  with  me  to  my  palace  of  coral  and 
shell  in  Neptune's  kingdom.  And  if  you  refuse 
her  to  me,  I  will  take  her  by  force." 

The  king  was  speechless  at  first.  Then,  when 
he  realized  the  boon  that  this  son  of  the  sea  was 
asking,  he  seemed  to  have  no  words  with  which 
to  express  his  scorn.  He  raised  his  sceptre  in 
anger  and  struck  Orion's  eyes. 

"Begone  from  my  court,  boaster/'  he  com- 
manded. 

Orion  rose  from  his  place  where  he  had  been 
kneeling  at  the  foot  of  the  king's  throne  and  he 
put  his  hands  to  his  eyes,  for  the  room  seemed 
suddenly  as  dark  as  night.  He  tried  to  find  the 
door  but  he  stumbled,  groping  for  it,  until  the 
attendants  of  the  court  had  to  take  his  hands  and 
lead  him  outside.  They  mocked  at  him  as  they 


52  WONDER  STORIES 

pushed  him  through  the  palace  gate  and  watched 
this  mighty  hunter,  who  had  the  strength  of  the 
sea  in  his  limbs,  stagger  down  the  road  like  a  blind 
beggar. 

Orion  was  now  sightless.  The  king,  for  his  pre- 
sumption in  asking  for  Merope,  had  struck  him 
blind. 

Without  sun  by  day  or  moon  by  night,  Orion 
wandered  up  and  down  the  earth,  asking  of  who- 
ever he  met  the  way  he  must  take  to  find  the  light 
again. 

Once  he  came  to  a  spot  in  the  woods  where  he 
heard  the  sound  of  many  soft  footsteps  dancing  on 
the  moss  to  the  sound  of  merry  piping.  Orion 
stretched  out  his  arms  as  he  felt  his  way  nearer 
to  the  Hamadryads,  those  gay  creatures  of  the 
forest  who  played  all  day  long  with  Pan  and  his 
tunes  for  company. 

"Can  you,  by  any  chance,  direct  me  to  Apollo 
who  drives  the  chariot  of  the  sun?"  Orion  asked. 

"Oh,  no,"  the  Hamadryads  answered,  scatter- 
ing at  the  sight  of  the  blind  wayfarer.  "We  sel- 
dom see  Apollo,  for  he  doesn't  like  the  music  Pan 
plays  on  his  pipes." 


WONDER  STORIES  53 

So  Orion  stumbled  on,  and  he  heard  in  the  course 
of  his  wanderings  the  clash  and  din  of  battle  as 
two  armies  met  in  mortal  combat  on  the  edge  of 
a  city.  War  chariots  crashed  by  him,  and  he 
heard  the  din  of  shield  striking  shield,  and  the 
groans  of  those  heroes  who  fell  wounded  to  death. 

"These  fighters  must  know  the  way  to  take  to 
the  light,"  Orion  thought  and,  sheltering  himself 
from  the  combat  beside  a  column  that  still  stood, 
he  cried  out  to  one  of  the  warriors, 

"Have  you  seen  Apollo,  driving  the  chariot  of 
the  sun,  pass  this  way  lately?" 

"No,"  the  man  replied.  "Apollo  avoids  the 
battle  field.  We  cannot  direct  you  to  the  god 
of  light." 

So  Orion  wandered  on  in  his  darkness  until  he 
came  at  last  to  the  island  of  Lemnos  and  as  he 
stumbled  along  a  rocky  road  the  sharp  ringing  of 
hammers  beating  on  metal  came  to  his  ears. 

'There  must  be  a  smithy  close  by,"  Orion 
thought,  "a  place  as  black  and  ugly  as  the  world 
my  blindness  makes  for  me.  I  have  heard  tales 
of  the  Cyclopes,  with  only  one  eye  apiece,  who 
spend  all  their  lives  under  the  mountains  shaping 


54  WONDER  STORIES 

thunderbolts  at  their  forges.  Their  master  is 
the  ill-shaped  Vulcan,  the  despised  of  the  gods. 
There  is  little  use  in  my  following  the  sound  of  a 
hammer." 

But,  against  his  will,  Orion  kept  on.  There 
was  a  call  in  the  ringing  of  the  hammer  that  drew 
him  on  faster  than  the  merrymaking  of  Pan  had,  or 
the  sound  of  battle.  Before  long  the  heat  of  the 
forge  fire  touching  his  face  told  Orion  that  he  had 
reached  the  doorway  of  Vulcan's  smithy  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain,  and  he  asked  again, 

"Can  you  tell  me  the  way  to  Apollo,  who  drives 
the  chariot  of  the  sun?" 

How  surprised  he  was  to  hear  Vulcan  reply, 

"Apollo  is  here.  We  are  sending  some  forg- 
ings  of  gold  to  his  palace  and  he  will  take  you 
with  him  to  the  sun,  blind  Orion." 

That  was  a  thrilling  ride  for  Orion,  away  from 
the  darkness  he  had  walked  in  so  long  on  the  earth, 
and  up  along  the  road  of  stars  that  led  to  the  sun. 
Apollo  drove  the  chariot  himself,  and  when  they 
came  to  the  stately  gold  columns  that  guarded 
the  entrance  to  his  palace,  he  told  Orion  to  look 
straight  at  the  blazing  light  of  the  sun.  As  he 


WONDER  STORIES  55 

looked,  Orion's  blindness  passed.    He  opened  his 
eyes  and  could  see  again. 

The  myths  say  that  Orion  never  left  the  sky 
after  that.  The  gods  changed  him  into  a  giant, 
with  a  wide  hunting  belt,  a  sword,  a  lion's-skin 
mantle  and  a  club  made  all  of  stars.  And  they 
even  brought  Sirius,  his  faithful  hunting  dog,  to 
follow  his  master  forever  through  the  heavens. 


THE  WONDERS  VENUS  WROUGHT 

Of  all  the  many  strange  things  that  happened 
in  the  days  of  the  old  gods  and  goddesses,  the 
most  wonderful  of  all  came  to  pass  one  spring  morn- 
ing near  the  island  of  Cyprus. 

One  expects  all  kinds  of  surprises  in  spring,  new 
leaves  and  flowers  on  bare  branches,  the  nesting 
and  singing  of  the  wild  birds  and  brighter  sunshine 
than  in  months  before,  but  this  wonder  of  Greece 
was  quite  unexplainable.  To  this  day  no  one  seems 
to  have  been  able  to  account  for  it  or  understand 
it.  There  was  hardly  a  breeze  to  stir  the  blue  sea 
and  the  waters  lay  like  a  turquoise  mirror,  smooth 
and  still.  Suddenly  the  fishermen  who  were  casting 
their  nets  on  the  shore  saw  a  bright,  rose  colored 
cloud  that  trembled  and  then  began  to  drop  lower 
toward  the  sea  until  it  floated  lightly  on  the  surface 
of  the  water.  It  was  so  soft  and  ethereal  that  it 
seemed  as  if  a  breath  would  blow  it  away,  but  it 
rose  and  fell  like  mist  and  seemed  to  almost  breathe. 

No  one  spoke,  watching  the  wonder,  and  sud- 
56 


WONDER  STORIES  57 

denly  the  cloud  began  to  take  form  and  shape. 
It  really  breathed,  and  it  blossomed  into  the  most 
beautiful  woman  who  had  ever  been  seen  on  earth 
or  on  Mount  Olympus  either.  Her  hair  was  as 
bright  as  sunlight  and  her  face  glowed  with  warm 
color  like  that  of  the  rosy  cloud  from  which  she  had 
come.  Her  flowing  garments  were  as  soft  and 
lovely  as  the  tinted  sky  at  sunrise,  and  she  stretched 
out  her  slender  white  arms  toward  the  shore. 

At  once  the  four  Zephyrs  of  the  west  who  had 
not  been  anywhere  about  before  came  and  sur- 
rounded this  beauteous  being,  and  with  their  help 
she  glided  toward  the  island  of  Cyprus.  The  four 
Seasons  descended  from  Mount  Olympus  to  meet 
her  there,  as  the  people  of  Cyprus  watched  and  won- 
dered at  the  marvel. 

"Can  it  be  possible  that  this  heavenly  being  has 
come  to  remain  with  us?'*  they  asked  each  other. 

And  even  as  they  wondered  the  second  strange 
thing  happened. 

Vulcan,  the  smith  of  Mount  Olympus,  had  a 
shop  on  Cyprus.  Here  his  anvil  could  be  heard 
ringing  every  day  from  sunrise  until  sunset,  for 
Vulcan  was  shaping  and  fitting  together  the  parts 


58  WONDER  STORIES 

of  a  gold  throne  for  Jupiter.  He  was  making  other 
things  with  his  skilful  hands,  weapons  and  armor 
for  the  gods  and  the  heroes,  and  thunderbolts  for 
Jupiter.  He  was  a  lonely  smith,  very  much  handi- 
capped by  his  lameness,  and  seldom  went  about 
much  unless  it  was  to  take  his  finished  work  home 
to  Mount  Olympus. 

But  this  is  what  happened  that  long  ago  morn- 
ing in  spring.  With  amazing  grace  this  lovely 
person  who  had  been  born  in  the  foam  of  the  sea 
made  her  way  to  the  abode  of  Vulcan.  She  was 
the  goddess  of  love,  Venus,  who  is  sometimes  called 
Aphrodite.  She  had  come  to  be  the  wife  of  Vulcan 
who  was,  in  spite  of  his  lameness,  the  god  of  fire. 

Things  were  very  different  on  the  earth  after  the 
coming  of  Venus.  The  whole  world  had  been 
looking  for  her  and  hoping  for  her  coming  although 
they  had  not  really  known  this  desire  of  their 
hearts.  And  one  of  the  first  matters  that  the 
goddess  of  love  attended  to  was  that  of  the  wilful 
Atalanta  who  had  caused  so  much  sorrow  among 
the  heroes  of  Greece. 

Atalanta  was  a  princess,  too  boyish  for  a  girl 
and  too  girlish  for  a  boy.  Many  of  the  heroes  had 


WONDER  STORIES  59 

claimed  her  hand  in  marriage  but  she  liked  her 
own  free,  wild  ways  too  much  to  give  them  up  for 
spinning  and  the  household  arts.  To  any  prince  or 
hero  who  asked  for  her  hand  Atalanta  made  the 
same  reply, 

"I  will  be  the  prize  of  him  who  shall  conquer  me 
in  a  race;  but  death  shall  be  the  penalty  of  all 
who  try  and  faill" 

It  was  a  cruel  decree.  How  Atalanta  could  run! 
There  had  never  been  a  boy  even  who  was  able 
to  beat  her  in  a  race.  The  breezes  seemed  to  give 
her  wings,  her  bright  hair  blew  over  her  shoulders, 
and  the  gay  fringe  of  her  dress  fluttered  behind 
her.  But  as  Atalanta  raced,  the  ruddy  hue  of  her 
skin  seemed  to  fade  and  she  became  as  white  as 
marble,  for  her  heart  grew  cold.  All  her  suitors 
were  outdistanced  and  they  were  put  to  death 
without  mercy. 

Then  Hippomenes  came  and  decided  to  risk  his 
life  in  a  race  with  Atalanta.  He  was  a  brave,  bold 
youth  and  although  he  had  been  obliged  to  act  as 
judge  and  condemn  many  of  his  friends  whom 
Atalanta  had  defeated  to  death,  he  wanted  to 
run.  And  he  asked  Venus  to  help  him  in  the  race. 


60  WONDER  STORIES 

In  Venus*  garden  in  her  own  island  of  Cyprus 
there  was  a  tree  with  yellow  leaves  and  yellow 
branches  and  golden  fruit.  Aphrodite  gathered 
three  golden  apples  from  the  tree  and  gave  them, 
unseen,  to  Hippomenes,  telling  him  how  to  use 
them. 

The  signal  was  given  and  Atalanta  darted  for- 
ward along  the  sand  of  the  shore  near  Venus' 
temple  with  Hippomenes  at  her  side.  Hippomenes 
was  a  swift  runner,  with  a  tread  so  light  that  it 
seemed  as  if  he  might  skim  the  water  or  a  field 
of  waving  grain  without  leaving  a  foot  print.  At 
first  he  gained.  Then  he  felt  the  beat  of  Atalanta's 
breath  on  his  shoulder,  and  the  goal  was  not  yet 
in  sight.  At  that  moment  Hippomenes  threw 
down  one  of  the  golden  apples. 

Atalanta  was  so  surprised  that  she  stopped 
a  second.  She  stooped  and  picked  up  the  apple 
and  as  she  did  so  Hippomenes  shot  on  ahead.  But 
Atalanta  redoubled  her  speed  and  soon  overtook 
him.  Again  he  threw  down  a  golden  apple.  Ata- 
lanta could  not  bear  to  leave  it,  and  she  again 
stopped  and  picked  it  up.  Then  she  ran  on  again. 
Hippomenes  was  almost  to  the  goal  but  Atalanta 


WONDER  STORIES  61 

reached  and  passed  him.  In  a  minute  she  would 
have  won,  but  Hippomenes  dropped  the  third 
golden  apple.  It  glittered  and  shone  so  that 
Atalanta  could  not  resist  it.  A  third  time  she 
hesitated  and  as  she  did  so  Hippomenes  won  the 
race. 

The  two  were  very  happy,  Hippomenes  in  his 
success  and  Atalanta  in  her  precious  fruit.  She 
at  once  wanted  a  house  in  which  to  keep  it,  and 
when  Hippomenes  built  her  one  Atalanta  began 
to  spin  and  weave  and  take  great  pride  in  making 
her  home  beautiful  and  comfortable.  Venus  had 
been  quite  sure  that  this  would  happen.  She  had 
known  that  it  would  be  better  for  Atalanta  to 
forget  her  cruel  races,  so  she  gave  her  these  golden 
apples  to  show  her  the  prizes  love  brings. 

The  goddess  of  love  had  other  work  to  do  on 
earth.  She  was  particularly  fond  of  her  garden 
in  Cyprus  and  she  busied  herself  for  a  long  time 
tending  and  coaxing  a  new  bush  to  live  and  blos- 
som. It  was  different  from  any  shoot  that  had 
been  seen  there  before,  tough,  and  dry,  and  cov- 
ered with  sharp  thorns  that  pricked  whoever 
touched  them  and  drew  blood  like  spear  points. 


62  WONDER  STORIES 

But  Venus  handled  and  trimmed  the  stalks  with- 
out fear  until  the  bush  spread  and  sent  out  branches 
that  stretched  up  and  covered  the  wall  of  her 
temple  like  a  vine.  It  was  noticed  that  the  new 
shoots  and  leaves  pushed  their  way  up  from  under- 
neath some  of  the  thorns,  which  dried  up  at  once 
and  dropped  off.  Then  flower  buds  appeared 
where  there  had  been  sharp  thorns  which  opened, 
when  summer  decked  Cyprus,  into  the  loveliest 
blossoms  the  earth  had  ever  seen.  Their  fragrance 
filled  the  island  and  their  color  was  like  that  of 
the  cloud  from  which  Aphrodite  had  come. 

It  was  the  rose,  Venus'  own  flower,  and  destined 
to  be  always  the  most  loved  flower  of  earth. 

Venus  watched  over  everything  that  was  beauti- 
ful on  earth.  That  is  why  she  was  sorry  that 
Pygmalion,  the  King  of  Greece,  was  so  hardhearted. 
Pygmalion  was  a  sculptor  as  well  as  a  king,  and 
so  skilled  with  clay  and  marble  that  he  was  able 
to  mould  likenesses  of  the  beings  of  Mount  Olym- 
pus, even.  But  he  closed  his  heart  to  men  and 
he  felt  that  there  was  no  woman  living  who  was 
worthy  to  share  his  kingdom. 

One  spring  Pygmalion  decided  to  make  a  statue 


WONDER  STORIES  63 

of  ivory,  and  when  it  was  finished  it  was  so  exquis- 
ite that  there  had  never  before  been  seen  such 
beauty  save  that  of  Venus.  Pygmalion  was  proud 
of  his  work  and  as  he  admired  it  Venus  put  a  better 
feeling  into  his  heart.  Pygmalion  laid  his  hand 
upon  his  statue  to  see  if  it  were  living  or  not.  He 
began  to  wish  that  it  was  not  ivory,  and  he  named 
it  Galatea. 

Pygmalion  gave  Galatea  the  presents  that  a 
young  girl  of  Greece  loved,  bright  shells  and  polished 
stones,  birds  in  golden  cages,  flowers  of  many 
colors,  beads,  and  amber.  He  dressed  her  in 
silk  and  put  jewels  on  her  fingers  and  a  necklace 
about  her  neck.  She  wore  ear  rings  and  many 
strings  of  pearls.  When  he  had  done  all  this  Venus 
rewarded  him.  Pygmalion,  returning  to  his  home 
one  day,  touched  his  statue  and  the  ivory  felt  soft 
and  yielded  to  his  fingers  as  if  it  had  been  wax. 
Its  pallor  changed  to  the  color  of  life,  and  Galatea 
opened  her  eyes  and  smiled  at  Pygmalion. 

After  that  all  Cyprus  was  changed  for  this  king 
who  had  been  selfish  and  hardhearted.  He  was 
able  to  hear  the  silvery  song  of  his  fountain  that 
he  had  never  noticed  before.  He  began  to  love 


64  WONDER  STORIES 

the  forests,  and  flowers,  and  people,  for  Venus 
had  given  him  Galatea  to  share  his  kingdom. 

Venus  and  Vulcan  began  to  spend  about  as 
much  time  with  the  gods  as  they  did  on  the  earth, 
for  Mount  Olympus  was  their  real  home.  Venus 
carried  her  roses  there  to  deck  her  hand-maidens, 
the  Graces,  who  presided  over  the  banquets,  the 
dances,  and  the  arts  of  the  gods.  She  was  watch- 
ful of  mortals,  though,  for  she  knew  that  they 
would  always  have  need  of  her. 


WHERE  THE  LABYRINTH  LED 

Daedalous  stood  in  the  shadows  at  the  entrance 
of  the  Labyrinth  and  watched  one  of  the  heroes 
enter  the  dark  passageway.  It  was  a  strange, 
secret  edifice  that  Daedalous,  an  artist  of  the 
gods,  had  built  with  his  mighty  skill.  Number- 
less winding  passageways  and  turnings  opened 
one  into  the  other  in  a  confusing  maze  that  seemed 
to  have  no  beginning  or  end.  There  was  a  river 
in  Greece,  the  Maeander,  that  had  never  been 
traced  to  its  source,  for  it  flowed  forward  and 
backward,  always  returning  and  Daedalous  had 
planned  the  Labyrinth  like  the  course  of  the  river 
Maeander. 

There  was  hardly  anything  that  Daedalous  was 
not  able  to  do  with  his  hands,  for  he  had  been 
given  great  gifts  by  the  gods.  But  he  liked  trickery 
more  than  honesty  and  had  spent  years  and  used 
his  clever  brain  in  inventing  this  maze. 

As  he  peered  into  the  dark  alleys  of  the  Laby- 
rinth he  saw  the  hero  disappear.  He  would  never 
65 


66  WONDER  STORIES 

return,  Daedalous  knew,  for  no  one  yet  had  ever 
been  able  to  retrace  his  steps  through  its  turn- 
ings. Like  many  secret  things,  the  Labyrinth 
caught  and  destroyed  even  the  brave. 

It  was  a  pity  that  anything  so  dreadful  should 
have  happened  on  such  a  day  as  that.  The  olive 
trees  of  Crete  were  in  full  leaf,  and  Daedalous  could 
hear  a  nightingale  singing  in  the  forest  nearby. 
He  was  deaf  to  the  music  of  birds,  though,  for  he 
was  listening  for  another  sound.  It  was  May 
of  the  year,  and  the  day  when  Athens  sent  a  tribute 
of  seven  of  the  strongest  lads  and  seven  of  the 
fairest  daughters  of  Greece  to  be  driven  into  the 
the  Labyrinth,  a  tribute  to  King  Minos  of  Crete. 
The  Minotaur,  a  raging  beast  half  man  and  half 
bull,  waited  in  its  secret  passageways  to  devour 
them.  Daedalous  had  built  the  Labyrinth  and 
confined  the  Minotaur  in  it  to  commend  himself 
to  King  Minos.  The  sound  he  listened  for  was 
the  crying  of  these  youths  and  maidens  on  their 
way  to  the  sacrifice. 

The  road  was  strangely  quiet,  although  Daeda- 
lous could  see  the  white  garments  of  the  children 
as  they  made  their  way  toward  him  through  the 


WONDER  STORIES  67 

aisles  of  flowering  trees.  Their  eyes  were  bright 
with  courage,  and  a  youth  who  was  taller  and 
older  than  the  others  led  them.  Daedalous  trem- 
bled and  hid  behind  a  bank  of  moss  as  he  saw 
him. 

All  Greece  was  beginning  to  talk  of  this  youth, 
Theseus,  the  son  of  the  King  of  Athens.  He  had 
but  lately  come  to  Athens,  having  lived  with  his 
grandfather  at  Troezen,  and  had  astounded  the 
populace  with  his  prowess.  The  boys  in  the 
streets  had  ridiculed  him  a  bit  at  first  because  of 
the  long  Ionian  garment  that  he  wore  and  his 
long  hair.  They  called  him  a  girl  and  told  him 
that  he  should  not  be  out  alone  in  public.  Hearing 
this  ridicule,  Theseus  had  unyoked  a  loaded  wagon 
that  stood  near  by  and  had  thrown  it  lightly  up 
into  the  air  to  the  marvel  of  all  who  saw  him. 
Next,  Theseus  had  overpowered  some  fifty  giants 
who  hoped  to  overthrow  the  government  of  Ath- 
ens and  set  up  their  own  rule  of  pillage  and  terror 
in  the  city.  Then  Theseus  had,  by  his  extra- 
ordinary strength,  captured  a  furious  bull  that 
was  destroying  the  fields  of  grain  outside  the  city, 
and  had  brought  it  captive  into  Athens. 


68  WONDER  STORIES 

Daedalous  did  not  know,  however,  of  this  last 
adventure  which  Theseus  had  taken  upon  him- 
self. 

The  Athenians  were  in  deep  affliction  when  he 
had  come  to  the  court  of  Athens,  for  it  was  the 
time  of  the  year  when  its  sons  and  daughters  must 
be  sent  for  the  annual  offering  to  King  Minos. 
Theseus  resolved  to  try  and  save  his  countrymen 
from  this  too  great  sacrifice  and  had  offered  him- 
self as  one  of  the  victims  to  leave  for  Crete.  His 
father,  King  Aegeus,  was  loath  to  have  him  go. 
He  was  growing  old,  and  Theseus  was  his  hope 
for  the  throne  of  Athens.  But  the  day  of  the 
tribute  came,  seven  girls  and  six  boys  were  drawn 
by  lot,  and  they  set  sail  with  Theseus  in  a  ship 
that  departed  under  black  sails. 

When  they  arrived  at  Crete,  the  victims  were 
exhibited  before  King  Minos,  and  Theseus  saw 
Ariadne,  his  daughter,  seated  at  the  foot  of  his 
throne.  Ariadne  was  so  beautiful  that  we  may 
still  see  her  crown  of  gems  in  the  sky,  a  starry  circle 
above  the  constellation  of  Hercules  who  kneels 
at  her  feet.  She  was  also  as  good  as  she  was  beauti- 
ful, and  a  great  pity  filled  her  heart  when  she 


WONDER  STORIES  69 

saw  Theseus  and  these  young  people  of  Athens  so 
soon  to  perish  in  the  Labyrinth.  She  wanted  to 
save  them  all  to  be  the  glory  of  Athens  when  they 
grew  up,  so  she  gave  Theseus  a  sword  for  his  en- 
counter with  the  Minotaur  and  a  coil  of  slender 
white  thread. 

Daedalous,  from  his  hiding  place,  saw  these  and 
wondered  as  Theseus  approached  the  Labyrinth 
and  fearlessly  entered. 

As  he  followed  the  crooked,  twisting  passages, 
Theseus  unwound  his  white  skein  and  left  the 
thread  behind  him.  He  went  on  boldly  until  he 
reached  the  devouring  beast  in  the  center  of  the 
Labyrinth  and  slew  it  easily  with  Ariadne's  keen 
blade.  Then  Theseus  retraced  his  steps,  follow- 
ing the  thread,  as  he  found  his  way  out  of  the 
Labyrinth  and  into  the  light  again.  Daedalous 
was  seized  with  an  overpowering  fear,  for  the 
artifice  of  his  work  had  been  discovered.  There 
would  be  no  more  sacrifices  of  the  heroes  and  the 
children  of  Greece  to  the  Minotaur.  The  crooked 
ways  of  the  Labyrinth  had  been  made  plain  by 
Theseus'  white  thread  of  truth. 

King  Minos  was  most  angry  of  all  with  Daeda- 


70  WONDER  STORIES 

lous  at  this  failure  of  the  maze.  He  imprisoned 
Daedalous  and  his  son,  Icarus,  whom  Daedalous 
loved  more  than  anything  else  in  the  world,  in  a 
high  tower  in  Crete.  When  they  escaped,  he  set 
guards  along  the  entire  shores  of  the  island  and 
had  all  ships  searched  so  that  the  two  might  not 
leave  by  sea.  Icarus  had  great  faith  in  his  father 
and  entreated  him  to  find  some  way  by  which 
they  might  elude  the  guards  and  begin  their  life 
anew  on  some  other  island.  So  Daedalous  for- 
got his  lesson  of  the  Labyrinth  and  set  about  mak- 
ing wings  for  himself  and  Icarus. 

The  wings  were  as  false  as  the  maze  had  been 
crooked.  Daedalous  set  the  boy  to  gathering 
all  the  feathers  he  could  find  that  the  sea  birds 
and  the  birds  of  the  forest  had  dropped.  Icarus 
brought  his  hands  full  of  these;  he  was  very  proud 
of  his  father  and  had  always  longed  to  be  old 
enough  to  help  him  in  his  work.  He  sat  beside  his 
father  in  the  shelter  of  a  cedar  grove,  sorting  the 
larger  from  the  smaller  feathers,  and  bringing 
wax  that  the  bees  had  left  in  the  hollow  trees. 
Daedalous  wrought  the  feathers  together  with  his 
skilful  fingers,  beginning  with  the  smallest  ones 


WONDER  STORIES  71 

and  adding  the  longer  to  imitate  the  sweep  of  a 
bird's  wings.  He  sewed  the  large  feathers  with 
thread  and  fastened  the  others  with  wax  until  he 
had  completed  two  pairs  of  wings.  He  fastened 
them  to  his  own  shoulders  and  to  those  of  Icarus, 
and  they  ran  to  the  shore,  buoyed  upwards  and 
feeling  the  power  of  birds  as  they  made  ready  for 
their  flight. 

Icarus  was  as  joyous  as  the  nightingale  that 
spreads  his  wings  to  carry  his  song  as  far  as  the 
sky.  But  Daedalous  was  again  terrified  at  the 
work  of  his  hands.  He  warned  the  boy: 

"Fly  along  the  middle  track,  my  Icarus,"  he 
said,  "not  high  or  low.  If  you  fly  low,  the  ocean 
spray  will  weight  your  wings,  and  the  sun  may 
hurt  you  with  his  fiery  dart  if  you  fly  too  far. 
Keep  near  me." 

Then  Daedalous  kissed  his  boy,  rose  on  his  wings 
and  flew  off  beckoning  for  Icarus  to  follow.  As 
they  soared  away  from  Crete,  the  ploughmen 
stopped  their  work  and  the  shepherds  forgot  their 
flocks  as  they  watched  the  strange  sight.  Daeda- 
lous and  his  son  seemed  like  two  gods  chasing  the 
air  above  the  blue  sea. 


72  WONDER  STORIES 

Together  they  flew  by  Samos  and  Delos,  on  the 
way  to  Sicily,  a  long  distance.  Then  Icarus,  exult- 
ing in  his  wings,  began  to  rise  and  leave  the  lower 
course  along  which  his  father  had  been  guiding 
him.  He  had  wanted,  all  his  life,  to  see  the  city 
of  the  gods  on  Mount  Olympus  and  now  his  chance 
had  come  to  reach  it.  Icarus  was  sure  that  his 
wings  were  strong  enough  to  carry  him  as  far  as 
he  had  a  desire  to  fly,  because  his  father  whom 
he  had  trusted  had  made  them  for  him. 

Up,  up  toward  the  heavens  Icarus  mounted, 
but  the  coolness  of  the  waters  changed  to  blazing 
heat,  for  Icarus  was  near  the  sun.  The  heat 
softened  the  wax  that  held  the  feathers  together 
and  Icarus'  wings  came  off.  He  stretched  his 
arms  wide,  but  there  was  nothing  to  hold  him  in 
mid  air. 

"Icarus,  my  Icarus,  where  are  you?"  Daedalous 
cried,  but  all  he  could  see  was  a  ripple  in  the  ocean 
where  his  son  had  fallen  and  the  bright,  scattered 
plumage  floating  on  the  surface. 

That  was  the  real  end  of  the  Labyrinth,  where 
the  daughters  of  the  sea,  the  Nereids,  took  Icarus 
in  their  arms  and  carried  him  tenderly  down  among 


WONDER  STORIES  73 

their  gardens  of  pearly  sea  flowers.  For  Daedalous 
had  to  fly  on  alone  to  Sicily,  and  although  he  built 
a  temple  to  Apollo  there  and  hung  his  wings  in 
it  as  an  offering  to  the  god  he  never  saw  his  son 
again. 


HOW  PERSEUS  CONQUERED  THE  SEA 

A  heavy  storm  raged  at  sea.  The  billows,  as 
tall  and  stronger  than  ships,  rolled  from  the  cave 
on  the  coast  of  Greece  where  Medusa,  the  Gor- 
gon, ruled  and  directed  them.  She  drove  them 
out  in  an  endless  line  of  destruction  to  crush  any 
frail  craft  that  braved  the  waters,  send  the  sailors 
to  the  bottom  and  leave  only  broken  oars  and 
spars  to  be  washed  up  on  the  rocks  outside  her 
stony  dwelling  place. 

As  the  sea  arose  and  the  winds  shrieked,  a  ship 
far  out  from  the  land  could  be  seen,  riding  on  the 
crest  of  the  waves  and  coming  closer  to  the  shore. 
Then  its  form  changed  and  the  fishermen  who 
had  dared  the  weather  saw  that  it  was  a  chest 
made  of  carved  cedar  wood  and  having  hinges 
of  chased  gold.  It  would  be  almost  submerged 
one  minute  and  then  it  would  appear  again, 
floating  bravely  on  the  surf.  At  last  it  was 
tossed  upon  the  rocks,  and  the  fishermen  ran 
to  salvage  the  treasure  that  some  ruthless  de- 
74 


WONDER  STORIES  75 

stroyer  had  cast  out  for  Medusa  to  capture  if 
she  could. 

When  they  reached  the  chest  the  fishermen  saw 
a  young  mother  inside  it  clasping  her  baby  son 
closely  in  her  arms.  It  had  held  a  human  treas- 
ure abandoned  to  the  Gorgon's  cruel  powers  of 
the  sea.  They  conducted  her  to  their  King,  Poly- 
dectes,  of  Seriphus,  and  she  told  him  her  story. 

"I  am  Danae,  the  princess  of  Argos,"  she  said 
"but  my  father,  King  Acrisius,  is  afraid  of  the  powers 
that  this  little  son  of  mine  may  develop  in  man- 
hood. He  caused  us  to  be  shut  up  in  a  frail  chest 
and  set  adrift  among  the  waves.  I  pray  your 
protection,  O  King,  for  my  son,  who  is  strong  and 
of  noble  birth,  until  he  is  able  to  dare  great  deeds 
and  reward  you  for  your  kindness." 

No  one  could  have  resisted  the  pleading  of  Danae, 
so  lovely  and  holding  her  baby  in  her  arms.  She 
remained  in  Seriphus  and  her  son,  Perseus,  grew 
to  a  boy  and  then  to  a  fearless,  daring  young  hero. 

All  this  time  Medusa  was  working  sorrow  on  land 
and  sea.  She  had  once  been  a  beautiful  maiden 
of  the  coast  of  Greece,  but  she  had  quarreled  with 
Minerva,  the  goddess  of  wisdom,  and  for  this  act 


76  WONDER  STORIES 

the  gods  had  changed  her  into  a  Gorgon.  Her 
long,  curling  hair  was  now  a  mass  of  clustering, 
venomous  serpents  that  twined  about  her  white 
shoulders  and  crawled  down  to  her  feet  where 
they  twisted  themselves  around  her  ankles.  No 
one  could  describe  the  terrible  features  of  Medusa, 
but  whoever  looked  in  her  face  was  turned  from 
a  living  thing  to  a  creature  of  stone.  All  around 
the  cave  where  she  lived  could  be  seen  the  stony 
figures  of  animals  and  men  who  had  chanced  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  her  and  had  been  petrified  in 
an  instant.  Above  all,  Medusa  held  the  ruthless- 
ness  of  the  sea  in  her  power.  Those  captains 
who  had  cruel  hearts  abandoned  their  enemies 
to  the  waters  and  she  crushed  them  with  her 
billows. 

So  it  seemed  to  Perseus  that  his  first  adventure 
on  coming  to  manhood  must  be  the  conquest  of 
Medusa,  the  snaky  haired  Gorgon,  and  the  gods 
approved  of  his  decision  and  met  in  counsel  on 
Mount  Olympus  to  decide  how  they  should  help 
the  young  hero. 

"I  will  lend  Perseus  my  shield  for  his  adventure," 
Minerva,  the  wisest  goddess  of  them  all,  said. 


WONDER  STORIES  77 

"And  I  will  lend  Perseus  my  winged  shoes," 
Mercury,  the  god  of  speed,  decided,  "to  help  him 
hasten  on  his  brave  errand." 

Even  Pluto,  the  king  of  the  dark  regions  be- 
neath the  earth,  heard  of  Perseus'  determination 
and  sent  him  his  magic  helmet  by  means  of  which 
any  one  was  able  to  become  invisible. 

Perseus  was  well  equipped  when  he  started  out. 
He  wore  Pluto's  helmet  and  Mercury's  shoes,  and 
travelled  to  the  lonely  cave  of  the  Gorgon  without 
being  seen  and  as  fast  as  a  dart  of  fire  sent  by 
Jupiter. 

Medusa  paced  the  halls  of  her  cave  endlessly, 
moaning  and  crying  in  her  despair,  for  she  was 
never  able  to  escape  those  crawling,  slimy  snakes 
which  covered  her  head  and  body.  Perseus  waited 
until  she  was  so  weary  that  she  sank  down  on  the 
stones  of  the  cave  and  slept.  Then,  taking  care 
not  to  look  at  her  hideous  face  but  only  follow- 
ing her  image  that  was  reflected  in  his  shield,  Per- 
seus cut  off  Medusa's  head  and  carried  it  away  in 
triumph. 

Then  the  people  who  travelled  the  sea  in  ships 
were  saved  from  her  cruelty,  and  her  power  for 


78  WONDER  STORIES 

evil  was  changed  in  Perseus'  hands  to  a  power  for 
good.  Carrying  the  head  of  Medusa  high,  the 
hero  flew  in  the  winged  shoes  far  and  wide  over 
land  and  sea  until  he  came  at  last  to  the  western 
limit  of  the  earth  where  the  sun  goes  down. 

That  was  the  realm  of  Atlas,  one  of  the  giants 
who  was  rich  in  herds  and  flocks  and  allowed  no 
one  to  share  his  wealth  or  even  enter  his  estates. 
Atlas'  chief  pride  was  his  orchard  whose  fruits 
were  all  of  gold,  hung  on  golden  branches  and  folded 
from  sight  by  golden  leaves.  Perseus  had  no 
ambition  to  take  this  golden  harvest. 

"I  stop  in  your  domain  only  as  a  guest,"  he 
explained  to  the  giant,  "I  am  of  noble  birth,  hav- 
ing sprung  from  the  gods,  and  I  have  just  accom- 
plished the  brave  deed  of  destroying  the  terror 
Medusa  wrought  on  the  sea.  I  ask  only  rest  and 
food  of  you." 

But  Atlas  could  think  of  nothing  but  his  greed 
for  his  gold  apples. 

"Be  gone,  boaster  1"  he  cried,  "or  I  will  crush 
you  like  a  worm  beneath  my  heel.  Neither  your 
parentage  or  your  valor  shall  avail  you  anything." 

Perseus  did  not  attempt  to  meet  the  force  of  the 


WONDER  STORIES  79 

giant's  greater  strength,  but  he  held  up  the  head 
of  the  Gorgon  full  in  his  face.  Then  the  massive 
bulk  of  Atlas  was  slowly  but  surely  turned  to 
stone.  His  iron  muscles,  his  brawny  limbs,  his 
huge  body  and  head  increased  in  size  and  petri- 
fied until  he  towered  above  Perseus,  a  mighty 
mountain.  His  beard  and  hair  became  forests, 
his  arm  and  shoulders  cliffs,  his  head  a  summit, 
and  his  bones  rocks.  For  all  the  rest  of  the  cen- 
turies Atlas  was  to  stand  there  holding  the  sky 
with  its  weight  of  stars  on  his  shoulders. 

Perseus  continued  his  flight  and  he  came  to  the 
country  of  the  Ethiopians.  The  sea  was  as  ruth- 
less here  as  it  had  been  when  Medusa  ruled  the 
billows  in  her  cave  on  the  coast  of  Greece.  As 
Perseus  approached  the  coast  he  saw  a  terrible 
sight. 

A  sea  monster  was  lashing  the  waves  to  fury 
and  coming  closer  and  closer  to  the  shore.  And 
a  beautiful  girl  was  chained  to  the  rocks,  waiting 
to  be  devoured  by  this  dragon.  She  hung  there, 
so  pale  and  motionless  that  if  it  had  not  been  for 
her  tears  that  flowed  in  a  long  stream  down  the 
rocks,  and  her  bright  hair  that  the  breezes  from 


80  WONDER  STORIES 

the  sea  blew  about  her  like  a  cloud,  Perseus  would 
have  thought  her  a  marble  statue  carved  and 
placed  there  on  the  rocks. 

Perseus  alighted  beside  her,  startled  at  her  hor- 
rible plight,  and  entranced  with  her  beauty. 

"Why  are  you  fastened  here  in  such  danger?" 
he  asked. 

The  girl  did  not  speak  at  first,  trying  to  cover 
her  face,  but  her  hands  were  also  chained.  At 
last  she  explained  to  Perseus. 

"I  am  Andromeda,  the  princess  of  Ethiopia,"  she 
said,  "and  I  must  be  a  sacrifice  to  the  sea  because 
my  mother,  Queen  Cassiopeia,  has  enraged  the 
sea  by  comparing  her  beauty  to  that  of  the  nymphs. 
I  am  offered  here  to  appease  the  deities.  Look, 
the  monster  comes  1"  she  ended  in  a  shriek. 

Almost  before  she  had  finished  speaking,  a  his- 
sing sound  could  be  heard  on  the  surface  of  the 
water  and  the  sea  monster  appeared  with  his  head 
above  the  surf  and  cleaving  the  waves  with  his 
broad  breast.  The  shore  filled  with  people  who 
loved  Andromeda  and  shrieked  their  lamentations 
at  the  tragedy  which  was  about  to  take  place.  The 
sea  monster  was  in  range  of  a  cliff  at  last  and 


WONDER  STORIES  81 

Perseus,  with  a  sudden  bound  of  his  winged  feet, 
rose  in  the  air. 

He  soared  above  the  waters  like  an  eagle  and 
darted  down  upon  this  dragon  of  the  sea.  He 
plunged  his  sword  into  its  shoulder,  but  the  crea- 
ture, was  only  pricked  by  the  thrust  and  lashed  the 
sea  into  such  a  fury  that  Perseus  could  scarcely 
see  to  attack  him.  But  as  he  caught  sight  of  the 
dragon  through  the  mist  of  spray,  Perseus  pierced 
it  between  its  scales,  now  in  the  side,  then  in  the 
flank,  and  then  in  the  head.  At  last  the  monster 
spurted  blood  from  its  nostrils.  Perseus  alighted 
on  a  rock  beside  Andromeda  and  gave  it  a  death 
stroke.  And  the  people  who  had  gathered  on 
the  shore  shouted  with  joy  until  the  hills  re-echoed 
their  glad  cries. 

Like  the  prince  of  a  fairy  tale,  Perseus  asked  for 
the  fair  Andromeda  as  his  bride  to  reward  him 
for  this  last  victory  over  the  sea,  and  his  wish  was 
granted.  It  seemed  as  if  his  tempestuous  adven- 
tures were  going  to  reach  a  peaceful  ending  as  he 
took  his  bride.  There  was  a  banquet  spread  for 
the  wedding  feast  in  the  palace  of  Andromeda's 
father  and  all  was  joy  and  festivity  when  there 


82  WONDER  STORIES 

came  a  sound  of  warlike  clamor  from  outside  the 
gates.  Phineas,  a  warrior  of  Ethiopia,  who  had 
loved  Andromeda,  but  had  not  had  the  courage 
to  rescue  her  from  the  terror  of  the  sea,  had  arrived 
with  his  train  to  take  her  away  from  Perseus. 

"You  should  have  claimed  her  when  she  was 
chained  to  the  rock,"  Perseus  said.  "You  are  a 
coward  to  attack  us  here  with  so  overpowering 
an  army." 

Phineas  made  no  reply  but  raised  his  javelin  to 
hurl  it  at  Perseus.  The  hero  had  a  sudden  thought 
to  save  him  from  destruction. 

"Let  my  friends  all  depart,  or  turn  away  their 
eyes,"  he  said,  and  he  held  aloft  the  hideous  snaky 
head  of  the  Gorgon. 

His  enemy's  arm  that  held  the  javelin  stiffened 
so  that  he  could  neither  thrust  it  forward  nor  pull 
it  back.  His  limbs  became  rigid,  his  mouth  opened 
but  no  sound  came  from  it.  He  and  all  his  fol- 
lowers were  turned  to  stone. 

So  Perseus  was  able  to  claim  Andromeda  as  his 
bride  after  all,  and  they  both  had  a  great  desire 
after  a  while  to  go  to  Argos  and  visit  Perseus' 
old  grandfather,  the  king  of  that  country  who  had 


WONDER  STORIES  83 

been  so  afraid  of  a  baby  that  he  had  sent  his  grand- 
son drifting  across  the  sea  in  a  chest. 

"I  want  to  show  him  that  he  has  nothing  to 
fear  from  me,"  Perseus  said. 

It  happened  that  they  found  the  old  king  in 
a  sad  plight.  He  had  been  driven  from  the  throne 
and  was  a  prisoner  of  state.  But  Perseus  slew  the 
usurper  and  restored  his  grandfather  to  his  right- 
ful place. 

In  time,  Perseus  took  the  throne  and  his  reign 
in  Argos  was  so  wise  and  kind  that  the  gods  at 
last  made  a  place  for  him  and  beautiful  Andromeda 
among  the  stars.  You  may  see  them  on  any 
clear  night  in  the  constellation  of  Cassiopeia. 


PEGASUS,  TH  E  HORSE  WHO  COULD  FLY 

A  very  strange  thing  happened  when  Perseus  so 
heroically  cut  off  the  head  of  Medusa,  the  Gor- 
gon. On  the  spot  where  the  blood  dripped  into 
the  earth  from  Perseus'  sword  there  arose  a  slender 
limbed,  wonderful  horse  with  wings  on  his  shoul- 
ders. This  horse  was  known  as  Pegasus,  and 
there  was  never,  before  or  since,  so  marvellous  a 
creature. 

At  that  time,  a  young  hero,  Bellerophon  by 
name,  made  a  journey  from  his  own  country  to 
the  court  of  King  lobates  of  Lycia.  He  brought 
two  sealed  messages  in  a  kind  of  letter  of  intro- 
duction from  the  husband  of  this  king's  daughter, 
one  of  Bellerophon's  own  countrymen.  The  first 
message  read, 

"The  bearer,  Bellerophon,  is  an  unconquerable 
hero.  I  pray  you  welcome  him  with  all  hospi- 
tality." 

The  second  was  this, 

"I  would  advise  you  to  put  Bellerophon  to  death." 
84 


WONDER  STORIES  85 

The  truth  of  the  matter  was  that  the  son-in-law 
of  King  lobates  was  jealous  of  Bellerophon  and 
really  desired  to  have  him  put  out  of  the  way  in 
order  to  satisfy  his  own  ambitions. 

The  King  of  Lycia  was  at  heart  a  friendly  per- 
son and  he  was  very  much  puzzled  to  know  how  to 
act  upon  the  advice  in  the  letter  introducing  Bell- 
erophon. He  was  still  puzzling  over  the  matter 
when  a  dreadful  monster,  known  as  the  Chimaera, 
descended  upon  the  kingdom.  It  was  a  beast 
far  beyond  any  of  mortal  kind  in  terror.  It  had 
a  goat's  rough  body  and  the  tail  of  a  dragon.  The 
head  was  that  of  a  lion  with  wide  spreading  nos- 
trils which  breathed  flames  and  a  gaping  throat 
that  emitted  poisonous  breath  whose  touch  was 
death.  As  the  subjects  of  King  lobates  appealed 
to  him  for  protection  from  the  Chimaera  a  sudden 
thought  came  to  him.  He  decided  to  send  the 
heroic  stranger,  Bellerophon,  to  meet  and  con- 
quer the  beast. 

The  hero  had  expected  a  period  of  rest  at  the 
court  of  Lycia.  He  had  looked  forward  to  a  feast 
that  might  possibly  be  given  in  his  honor  and  a 
chance  to  show  his  skill  in  throwing  the  discus 


WONDER  STORIES 


and  driving  a  chariot  at  the  court  games.  But 
the  day  after  Bellerophon  arrived  at  the  palace 
of  King  lobates,  he  was  sent  out  to  hunt  down 
and  kill  the  Chimaera. 

He  had  not  the  slightest  idea  where  he  was  to 
go,  and  neither  had  he  any  plan  for  destroying 
the  creature,  but  he  decided  that  it  would  be  a 
good  plan  to  spend  the  night  in  the  temple  of 
Minerva  before  he  met  the  danger  face  to  face. 
Minerva  was  the  goddess  of  wisdom  and  might 
give  him  help  in  his  hopeless  adventure. 

So  Bellerophon  journeyed  to  Athens,  the  chosen 
city  of  Minerva,  and  tarried  for  a  night  in  her 
temple  there,  so  weary  that  he  fell  asleep  in  the 
midst  of  his  supplications  to  the  goddess.  But 
when  he  awoke  in  the  morning,  he  found  a  golden 
bridle  in  his  hands,  and  he  heard  a  voice  direct- 
ing him  to  hasten  with  it  to  a  well  outside  of  the 
city. 

Pegasus,  the  winged  horse,  had  been  pasturing 
meanwhile  in  the  meadows  of  the  Muses.  There 
were  nine  of  these  Muses,  all  sisters  and  all  pre- 
siding over  the  arts  of  song  and  of  memory.  One 
took  care  of  poets  and  another  of  those  who  wrote 


'Bellerophon  took  the  golden  reins  firmly  in  his 
hand." 


WONDER  STORIES  87 

history.  There  was  a  Muse  of  the  dance,  of  com- 
edy, of  astronomy,  and  in  fact  of  whatever  made 
life  more  worth  while  in  the  sight  of  the  gods. 
They  needed  a  kind  of  dream  horse  like  Pegasus 
with  wings  to  carry  them  on  his  back  to  Mount 
Olympus  whenever  they  wanted  to  return  from 
the  earth. 

Bellerophon  had  never  known  of  the  existence 
even  of  Pegasus,  but  when  he  reached  the  well  to 
which  the  oracle  had  directed  him,  there  stood 
Pegasus,  or,  rather,  this  horse  of  the  Muses  poised 
there,  for  his  wings  buoyed  him  so  that  his  hoofs 
could  scarcely  remain  upon  the  earth.  When 
Pegasus  saw  the  golden  bridle  that  the  goddess  of 
Wisdom  had  given  Bellerophon,  he  came  directly 
up  to  the  hero  and  stood  quietly  to  be  harnessed. 
A  dark  shadow  crossed  the  sky  just  then;  the 
dreaded  Chimaera  hovered  over  Bellerophon' s  head, 
its  fiery  jaws  raining  sparks  down  upon  him. 

Bellerophon  mounted  upon  Pegasus  and  took 
the  golden  reins  firmly  in  one  hand  as  he  bran- 
dished his  sword  in  the  other.  He  rose  swiftly 
in  the  air  and  met  the  ravening  creature  in  a  fierce 
battle  in  the  clouds.  Not  for  an  instant  did  the 


88  WONDER  STORIES 

winged  horse  falter,  and  Bellerophon  killed  the 
Chimaera  easily.  It  was  a  great  relief  to  the 
people  of  Lycia,  and  indeed  to  people  of  all  time. 
You  may  have  heard  of  a  Chimaera.  It  means 
nowadays  any  kind  of  terror  that  is  not  nearly 
so  hard  to  conquer  as  it  seemed  in  the  beginning 
when  people  were  afraid  of  it. 

This  story  ought  to  end  with  the  hero  return- 
ing his  winged  steed  to  the  Muses  and  entering 
the  kingdom  of  Lycia  in  great  triumph,  but  some- 
thing very  different  happened.  Bellerophon  de- 
cided to  keep  Pegasus,  and  he  rode  him  so  long 
and  so  hard  that  he  grew  very  full  of  pride  and 
presumption  in  his  success.  One  day  Bellerophon 
made  up  his  mind  to  drive  Pegasus  to  the  gates 
of  the  gods  in  the  sky  which  was  too  great  an  am- 
bition for  a  mortal  who  had  received  no  invitation 
as  yet  from  the  dwellers  on  Mount  Olympus. 
Jupiter  saw  this  rider  of  the  skies  mounting  higher 
and  higher  and  he  became  very  angry  with  him. 
He  sent  a  gadfly  which  stung  Pegasus  and  made 
him  throw  Bellerophon  to  the  earth.  He  was 
always  lame  and  blind  after  that. 

It  really  had  not  been  the  fault  of  Pegasus  at 


WONDER  STORIES  89 

all.  He  was  only  the  steed  of  those  who  followed 
dreams,  even  if  he  did  have  wings.  When  his 
rider  fell,  Pegasus  fell  too,  and  he  landed  unhurt 
but  a  long  distance  from  his  old  pastures.  He 
did  not  know  in  which  direction  they  lay  or  how 
to  find  the  road  that  led  back  to  his  friends,  the 
Muses.  Pegasus*  wings  seemed  to  be  of  no  use 
to  him.  He  roamed  from  one  end  of  the  country 
to  the  other,  driven  from  one  field  to  the  next  by 
the  rustics  who  mistook  him  for  some  sort  of  a 
dragon  because  of  his  wings.  He  grew  old  and 
lost  his  fleetness.  It  even  seemed  to  him  that 
his  wings  were  nothing  but  a  dragging  weight 
and  that  he  would  never  be  able  to  use  them 
again. 

Finally  the  same  thing  happened  to  Pegasus 
that  happens  to  old  horses  to-day  that  have  en- 
joyed a  wonderful  youth  as  racers.  He  was  sold 
to  a  farmer  and  fastened  to  a  plough. 

Pegasus  was  not  used  to  this  heavy  work  of  the 
soil;  his  strength  was  better  suited  to  climbing 
through  the  air  than  plodding  along  the  surface 
of  the  earth.  He  used  all  the  strength  he  could 
put  forth  in  pulling  the  plough,  but  his  wings 


90  WONDER  STORIES 

dragged  and  were  in  the  way  and  his  master  beat 
his  aching  back  with  an  ox  whip.  That  might 
have  been  the  end  of  this  winged  horse,  but  one 
day  good  fortune  came  to  him. 

There  was  a  youth  passing  by  who  was  beloved  of 
the  Muses.  He  was  so  poor  that  he  had  often  no 
other  shelter  than  the  woods  and  hedges  afforded, 
or  any  food  save  wild  fruits  and  the  herbs  of  the 
field.  But  this  youth  could  put  the  beauties  of 
the  earth,  its  hills  and  valleys,  its  temples,  flowers, 
and  the  desires  and  loves  of  its  people  into  words 
that  sang  together  as  the  notes  of  a  lute  sang. 
He  was  a  young  poet. 

The  poet  felt  a  great  compassion  for  the  horse 
he  saw  in  the  field,  bent  low  under  the  blows  of 
his  clownish  master,  and  with  wings  dragging  and 
tattered. 

"Let  me  try  to  drive  your  horse,"  he  begged, 
crossing  the  field  and  mounting  upon  Pegasus* 
back. 

It  was  suddenly  as  if  one  of  the  gods  were  rid- 
ing Pegasus.  He  lifted  his  head  high,  and  his 
heavy  feet  left  the  clods  of  earth.  His  wings 
straightened  and  spread  wide.  Carrying  the 


WONDER  STORIES  91 

youth,  Pegasus  arose  through  the  air  as  the  coun- 
try people  gathered  from  all  the  neighboring  farms 
to  watch  the  wonder,  a  winged  horse  with  a  flowing 
golden  mane  rising  and  then  hidden  within  the 
clouds  that  opened  upon  Mount  Olumpus. 


HOW  MARS  LOST  A  BATTLE 

Terminus  was  the  god  of  boundaries,  and  a  kind 
of  picnic  was  being  held  in  his  honor  one  day  in  the 
long-ago  myth  time  on  the  edge  of  a  little  Roman 
town. 

No  one  had  ever  really  seen  Terminus  but  every 
farmer  who  owned  a  few  acres  of  land,  and  the 
men  who  governed  the  cities  were  quite  sure  as 
to  how  he  looked.  It  was  likely  that  he  wore 
such  garb  as  did  Pan,  they  had  decided,  and  carried 
instruments  for  measuring  similar  to  those  that  a 
surveyor  uses  to-day.  His  chariot  was  loaded 
with  large  stones  and  finely  chiselled  posts  for 
marking  the  limits  of  a  man's  farm,  or  that  of 
a  town.  There  were  no  fences  in  those  days, 
but  the  gods  had  appointed  Terminus  to  pro- 
tect land  holders  and  to  safeguard  citizens  by 
keeping  all  boundaries  sacred  from  invasion  by 
an  enemy. 

No  wonder  the  Terminalia,  as  they  called  this 
holiday,  was  a  joyous  time.  All  through  the 
92 


WONDER  STORIES  93 

neighboring  vineyards  and  fields  and  on  the  edge 
of  the  village  stones  had  been  placed  to  mark  the 
boundaries,  and  there  were  stone  pillars,  also, 
having  carved  heads  to  make  them  beautiful. 
Everyone  who  came  to  the  picnic  brought  an 
offering  for  the  god  Terminus,  a  wreath  of  bright 
roses,  a  garland  of  green  laurel,  or  a  basket  of 
grapes  and  pomegranates  which  they  placed  on 
one  of  these  boundary  stones  or  posts.  The  law 
of  the  gods  that  prevented  invasion  was  the  greatest 
blessing  these  people  had,  for  it  made  them  free 
to  till  the  earth  and  build  homes  and  keep  their 
hearth  fires  burning. 

Suddenly  the  merrymaking  was  interrupted. 
The  children  who  had  been  gathering  wild  flowers 
ran,  crying,  to  their  fathers  and  mothers,  for  the 
sky  was  darkened  in  an  instant  as  if  a  hurricane 
was  approaching.  The  young  men  who  had  been 
playing  games  and  the  maidens  who  had  been 
dancing  huddled  together  in  frightened  groups, 
for  they  saw  between  rifts  in  the  clouds  the  tracks 
of  dark  chariot  wheels  making  their  swift  way 
down  to  earth  from  the  sky.  And  the  older  folk, 
who  knew  the  meaning  of  the  rumblings  and  dull 


94  WONDER  STORIES 

roar  and  occasional  darts  of  fire  that  parted  the 
clouds,  shuddered. 

"See  who  stands  in  our  midst  in  his  black  cloak, 
scattering  hoar  frost  that  blights  the  fields  and 
freezes  us!"  they  exclaimed.  "It  is  Dread,  the 
courier  of  Mars,  the  god  of  war,  who  is  approach- 
ing in  his  chariot." 

There  came  dreadful  sounds  soon  that  almost 
drowned  the  voices  of  the  people,  the  crashing  of 
swords  and  shields,  and  the  cries  of  women  and 
little  children  as  a  chariot  plunged  through  their 
midst,  its  wheels  dripping  with  blood.  It  was 
driven  by  two  other  attendants  of  war,  Alarm  and 
Terror,  the  face  of  one  as  dark  as  a  thunder  cloud, 
and  the  other  with  a  countenance  as  pale  as  death. 

"What  shall  we  do;  we  are  unarmed  and  will 
perish?"  one  man  cried.  And  another  answered 
him, 

"Look  to  yourself  and  your  own  safety.  Why 
did  you  leave  your  sword  at  home,  and  what  care 
is  it  of  mine  that  you  have  no  means  of  protecting 
yourself?" 

Strange  words  for  a  noble  people  to  speak  to  one 
another  in  a  time  of  such  need,  were  they  not? 


WONDER  STORIES  95 

But  it  was  not  the  heart  or  the  soul  speech  of  these 
Romans.  The  two  other  attendants  of  war,  Fear 
and  Discord  in  tarnished  armor,  had  appeared  in 
their  midst  and  had  put  these  thoughts  into  the 
minds  of  the  men. 

"Mars  comes!"  they  said  then,  and  the  air  grew 
dense  and  suffocating  with  smoke,  only  pierced 
at  intervals  by  fiery  arrows.  Thunderbolts  forged 
by  the  black,  one-eyed  Cyclopes  in  their  work- 
shops under  the  volcanoes  fell  all  about,  tearing 
up  the  earth  and  bursting  in  thousands  of  burn- 
ing pieces.  Through  this  slaughter  and  carnage 
rode  the  mailed  Mars,  one  of  the  gods  of  war. 

His  steeds  were  hot  and  bleeding,  and  his  own 
eyes  shone  like  fire  in  his  dark,  cruel  face,  for  Mars 
had  no  pity  and  took  pleasure  in  war  for  the  sake 
of  itself.  It  was  never  the  purpose  but  always 
the  battle  that  gave  him  pleasure.  With  his 
attendants  he  sat  on  a  throne  that  was  stained 
with  blood,  and  the  worship  that  delighted  his 
ears  like  music  was  the  crash  of  strife  and  the  cries 
of  those  who  were  sorely  wounded. 

Mars'  palace  on  Mount  Olympus  was  a  most 
terrible  place.  Fancy  a  grim  old  stronghold  built 


96  WONDER  STORIES 

for  strength  only,  without  a  chink  or  a  crack  for 
letting  in  Apollo's  cheerful  sunlight,  and  never 
visited  by  the  happy  Muses  or  by  Orpheus  with 
his  sweet  toned  lute,  or  by  jolly  old  Momus,  the 
god  of  laughter.  The  palace  was  guarded,  night 
and  day,  by  a  huge  hound  and  a  vulture,  both 
of  them  the  constant  visitants  of  battle  fields. 
Mars  sat  on  his  throne,  waited  upon  by  a  com- 
pany of  sad  prisoners  of  war,  and  holding  forever 
the  insignia  of  his  office,  a  spear  and  a  flaming 
torch.  Why  had  he  left  his  abode  and  de- 
scended upon  the  peaceful  merrymaking  of  the 
Terminalia? 

Mars  was  a  very  ruthless  kind  of  god.  In  fact 
he  was  so  cruel  and  thoughtless  that  the  family 
of  the  gods  was  rather  sorry  that  Jupiter  had 
appointed  him  to  so  important  a  position,  and 
they  decided  at  last  to  have  two  war-gods.  But 
who  the  other  one  was  and  what  happened  when 
this  second  chariot  of  war  crashed  down  through 
the  clouds  is  another  story  that  you  shall  hear 
presently.  The  reason  for  Mars  riding  out  with 
those  frightful  friends  of  his,  Dread,  Alarm,  Fear, 
and  Discord,  was  that  he  had  not  the  slightest 


WONDER  STORIES  97 

respect  for  Terminus,  the  god  of  boundaries.  He 
had  decided  to  knock  down  his  stones  and  shatter 
his  pillars. 

Everyone,  from  the  days  of  the  myths  down  to 
the  present  time,  has  believed  in  a  fair  fight.  It 
is  about  the  greatest  adventure  a  man  can  have, 
that  of  using  all  his  strength  and  giving  up  his 
life  perhaps  in  a  battle  to  right  a  wrong  or  protect 
a  defenseless  people.  But  fancy  this  old  fight  of 
Mars  when  he  rode  down  in  the  chariot  that  the 
gods  had  given  him  upon  a  people  who  were  with- 
out arms  and  with  the  purpose  of  violating  their 
boundaries. 

With  a  rumble  like  that  of  all  the  thunder  storms 
in  the  world  rolled  into  one  and  a  crashing  like 
the  sound  of  a  thousand  spears,  Mars  touched  the 
earth  and  rode  across  Terminus'  carefully  laid 
out  boundary  lines  and  destroyed  them.  The 
wheels  of  his  chariot  ground  the  stones  Terminus 
had  so  honestly  placed  to  powder,  and  the  beau- 
tifully carved  pillars  were  shattered,  and  the  pieces 
buried  in  the  dust.  The  shouts  of  Mars  and  his 
followers  drowned  all  the  peaceful  melody  of  earth, 
the  singing  of  birds,  the  laughter  of  the  children, 


98  WONDER  STORIES 

and  the  pleasant  sounds  of  spinning  and  mowing 
and  grinding. 

It  was  indeed  a  most  dreadful  invasion  and  for 
a  while  it  seemed  as  if  it  was  going  to  end  in  noth- 
ing but  destruction  of  the  people  and  the  industry 
on  the  earth  which  the  gods  loved  and  had  helped. 
But  in  an  instant  something  happened. 

There  was  a  roar  as  if  wild  beasts  of  the  forests 
for  miles  around  had  been  captured,  and  the  earth 
trembled  as  it  did  when  the  giants  were  thrown 
out  of  the  home  of  the  gods,  for  Mars  had  fallen 
and  was  crying  about  it.  He  had  thought  him- 
self invulnerable,  but  whether  an  arrow  from 
some  unseen  hero  had  hit  him  or  whether  his  steeds 
had  stumbled  over  one  of  Terminus'  boundary 
posts,  the  invincible  Mars  lay  prostrate  on  the  field 
he  had  himself  invaded,  and  before  he  could  pick 
himself  up,  something  else  happened. 

It  was  really  rather  amusing,  for  Mars  was 
not  hurt.  He  was  only  taught  a  much  needed 
lesson. 

Just  beyond  the  lines  of  Terminus  which  Mars 
had  violated  there  lived  two  giant  planters,  Otus 
and  Ephialtes,  whose  father  had  been  a  planter 


WONDER  STORIES  99 

also  and  his  father  before  him.  They  had  been 
much  too  busy  to  attend  the  Terminalia  picnic. 
In  fact  they  almost  never  took  a  holiday,  but 
toiled  from  sunrise  to  sunset  on  their  farm  which 
supplied  the  nearby  market  with  fruits  and  bread 
stuffs.  Otus  and  Ephialtes  were  very  much  sur- 
prised to  hear  the  thundering  crash  that  Mars 
made  when  he  tumbled  down;  and  they  dropped 
their  tools  and  ran  to  see  what  was  the  matter. 

It  is  said  that  the  fallen  Mars  covered  seven  acres 
of  ground,  but  the  two  giants  started  at  once  pick- 
ing him  up  and  he  began  to  shrink  then  like  a  rub- 
ber balloon  when  the  air  leaks  out  of  it. 

"What  shall  we  do  with  this  troublemaker?" 
Otus  asked  his  brother. 

"We  must  put  him  where  he  will  not  interfere 
with  our  work  or  the  other  work  of  the  earth  for 
a  while  at  least,"  Ephialtes  said  as  they  tugged 
Mars,  still  roaring,  home. 

"That's  a  good  idea,"  Otus  agreed.  "We  will 
shut  him  up." 

And  so  they  crammed  the  troublesome  Mars 
into  a  great  bronze  vase  and  took  turns  sitting 
on  the  cover  so  that  he  was  not  able,  by  any  chance, 


100  WONDER  STORIES 

to  get  out  for  thirteen  months.  That  gave  every- 
one an  opportunity  to  plant  and  gather  another 
harvest,  and  to  place  Terminus'  boundary  stones 
again. 

These  giant  planters  would  have  liked  to  keep 
this  god  of  war  bottled  up  in  the  vase  for  all  the 
rest  of  time,  but  he  was  one  of  the  family  of  the 
Olympians  and  so  this  was  not  possible.  In  time 
he  was  allowed  to  drive  home  and  both  the  Greek 
and  the  Roman  people  tried  to  make  the  best  of 
him,  not  as  a  protecting  deity,  but  as  the  god  of 
strength  and  brawn. 

The  Greeks  named  a  hill  for  him  near  Athens, 
and  here  was  held  a  court  of  justice  for  the  right 
decision  of  cases  involving  life  and  death.  That 
put  Mars  to  work  in  a  very  different  way.  And 
the  Romans  gave  him  a  great  field  for  military 
manoeuvres  and  martial  games.  We  would  call 
it  a  training  camp  to-day.  There,  in  Mars  Field, 
chariot  races  were  held  twice  a  year  and  there 
were  competitions  in  riding,  in  discus  and  spear 
throwing,  and  in  shooting  arrows  at  a  mark.  Once 
in  five  years  the  able-bodied  young  men  of  Rome 
came  to  Mars  Field  to  enlist  for  the  army,  and 


WONDER  STORIES  101 

no  Roman  general  started  out  to  war  without 
first  swinging  a  sacred  shield  and  spear  which 
hung  there  and  saying, 

"Watch  over  me,  O  Mars."  For  Mars  could 
put  muscle  into  a  man's  arm,  and  the  heroes  them- 
selves were  learning  to  choose  the  good  fight. 


HOW  MINERVA  BUILT  A  CITY 

The  sea  that  broke  in  surf  on  the  shore  of  Attica 
became  suddenly  as  smooth  as  a  floor  of  crystal. 
Over  it,  as  if  he  had  leaped  from  the  caverns  of 
rock  in  its  depths,  dashed  Neptune,  the  god  of 
the  sea,  his  trident  held  high,  his  horses'  golden 
manes  flowing  in  the  wind,  and  their  bronze  hoofs 
scarcely  touching  the  water  as  they  galloped  toward 
the  shore. 

At  the  same  moment  a  war-like  goddess  ap- 
peared on  the  edge  of  the  land.  She  was  as  tall 
and  straight  and  strong  as  Mars,  but  her  armor 
shone  like  gold  while  his  was  often  tarnished. 
She  held  the  storm  shield  of  her  father,  Jupiter 
and  carried  a  dart  of  lightning  for  her  spear.  Min- 
erva, the  other  god  of  war,  she  was,  as  fearful  and 
powerful  as  a  storm,  but  also  as  gentle  and  peace- 
ful as  the  warmth  of  the  sky  when  it  shines  down 
on  the  fields  when  the  storm  is  over. 

"Why  have  Neptune  and  Minerva  met?"  the  fish- 
ermen and  sailors  who  crowded  the  beach  asked? 
102 


WONDER  STORIES  103 

"They  have  come  together  for  a  contest  to  see 
which  shall  have  the  honor  of  building  a  City," 
some  of  the  wise  men  told  them,  and  then  these 
Greeks  drew  aside  and  waited  to  see  what  would 
happen,  for  with  them  was  to  rest  the  judgment 
in  the  matter. 

Neptune  drove  his  chariot  up  onto  the  land, 
dismounted,  and  blew  a  mighty  blast  on  his  trum- 
pet to  call  the  nymphs  of  the  waters  and  the  spirits 
of  the  winds  to  his  aid.  Then  he  ascended  to  a 
barren  rock  that  lifted  its  head  above  the  surround- 
ing hills,  bleak  and  without  a  single  blade  of  grass 
to  soften  it.  The  Greeks  watched  Neptune  breath- 
lessly as  he  stood  on  its  top,  a  mighty  figure  in  his 
cloak  of  dripping  seaweed  and  the  white  of  sea 
salt  in  his  flowing,  dark  green  hair.  He  raised  his 
trident,  struck  the  rocks  with  it,  and  the  age-old 
stone  cracked  in  a  deep  fissure.  Out  of  the  crack 
in  the  rock  burst  a  spring  of  water  where  there 
had  been  not  a  drop  through  all  the  centuries 
before. 

"Neptune  wins!  None  of  the  gods  can  excel 
this  feat  of  bringing  water  out  of  bare  rock,"  the 
cry  went  up  from  the  people. 


104  WONDER  STORIES 

But  Minerva  ascended  now  to  this  rock  of  the 
Acropolis  and  took  her  place  beside  Neptune. 
She,  also,  touched  the  barren  stone  with  her  spear 
that  was  forged  and  tempered  by  the  gods.  And 
as  she  did  so,  a  marvel  resulted  to  her  honor  as 
well. 

The  green  shoot  of  a  tree  suddenly  appeared, 
pushing  its  way  up  through  the  hard  stone.  The 
shoot  grew  tall  and  broadened  to  form  a  trunk 
and  branches,  and  then  covered  itself  with  gray- 
green  leaves  that  made  a  pleasant  shade  from 
the  brilliancy  of  the  sun.  Last,  this  wonder  tree 
was  hung  on  every  branch  with  a  strange  new 
fruit,  green  balls  of  delicious  flavor  and  full  of  oil 
that  was  healthful  and  healing  and  needed  by 
the  whole  world. 

The  Greeks  broke  their  ranks  and  gathered 
about  the  tree  to  taste  and  enjoy  the  fruit. 

"Minerva  wins  I"  they  shouted.  "Neptune's 
spring  here  in  the  Acropolis  is  like  the  sea,  brack- 
ish in  flavor,  but  Minerva  had  given  Greece  the 
olive  tree." 

That  is  just  what  had  happened.  Minerva 
had  given  the  people  something  that  they  really 


WONDER  STORIES  105 

needed,  and  the  fair  city  of  Athens  was  raised  and 
awarded  to  this  goddess  of  war  as  the  prize  of  her 
kindness  to  the  people. 

But  Neptune  proved  himself  a  very  poor  loser. 
He  was  a  blustering,  boastful  old  god,  used  from 
the  days  of  his  father  Oceanus,  when  the  waters 
were  first  separated  from  the  land,  to  having  his 
own  way.  He  had  wanted  to  own  Athens  him- 
self, to  be  able  to  go  and  come  in  it  whenever  he 
liked,  and  it  was  particularly  humiliating  that  he 
must  give  it  up  to  a  goddess.  Neptune  stormed 
down  to  the  shore,  blew  another  blast  on  his  trum- 
pet, and  called  all  the  deities  of  the  sea  and  of 
tempests  to  come  to  his  aid  and  destroy  the  city. 

What  an  army  they  made  as  they  obeyed  his 
summons! 

Triton,  a  son  of  Neptune,  led  the  hosts  and 
sounded  the  horn  of  battle  as  they  approached  the 
land,  and  all  around  him  flew  the  Harpies,  those 
birds  as  large  as  men  with  crooked  claws  and  a 
hunger  for  human  flesh.  There  were  sea  ser- 
pents that  could  crush  a  man  with  a  single  coil, 
and  Boreas,  the  North  Wind,  drove  the  regiment 
of  the  high  tides  up  on  the  coast.  With  these 


106  WONDER  STORIES 

powers  of  the  sea  came  a  mighty  rushing  of  water, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  neither  Athens  or  its  people 
would  be  able  to  survive  this  arising  of  the  sea. 

But  Minerva,  the  goddess  of  righteous,  defen- 
sive war  was  there  and  on  the  side  of  the  Greeks. 
She  presided  over  battles,  but  only  to  lead  on  to 
victory  and  through  victory  to  peace  and  pros- 
perity. Few  could  withstand  the  straight  glance  of 
Minerva's  eyes,  valiant,  conquering  and  terrify- 
ing, or  the  sight  of  her  gloriously  emblazoned 
shield.  As  the  powers  of  Neptune  advanced, 
Minerva  raised  her  shield,  and  the  tides  rested 
and  the  waters  receded.  Then  she  drove  the 
forces  of  Neptune  back  at  the  point  of  her  spear, 
and  Athens  was  saved. 

You  will  remember  that  the  gods  were  very 
much  like  men  in  wanting  particular  kinds  of 
gifts  which  would  be  their  very  own,  and  which 
they  could  treasure.  Jupiter  had  a  special  fond- 
ness for  thunderbolts  and  kept  piles  of  them  be- 
hind his  throne.  Apollo  treasured  his  lyre,  and 
Mercury  his  shoes  and  his  cap.  Venus  never  trav- 
elled without  a  jewelled  girdle  which  she  thought 
added  to  her  beauty,  but  Minerva  had  always 


WONDER  STORIES  107 

wanted  a  city.  Now  her  wish  had  come  true, 
for  she  had  a  very  large  and  beautiful  one,  the 
fair  Athens. 

People  began  coming  to  Athens  from  all  parts 
of  Greece  and  from  neighboring  countries  as  well, 
because  Minerva  spent  so  much  time  there  tend- 
ing and  spreading  the  olive  orchards,  and  keeping 
the  city  free  from  invasion.  Neptune  had  left 
a  horse  near  the  hill  of  the  Acropolis  when  he  had 
to  retreat,  and  Minerva  invented  a  harness  for 
it  and  broke  it  to  the  bit  and  bridle  with  her  own 
hands  in  the  market  square  of  Athens.  Having 
horses  for  ploughing  and  carrying  loads  of  lumber 
and  stone  and  grain  helped  the  prosperity  of 
Athens  and  brought  it  wealth.  And  when  the 
people  were  at  peace,  Minerva  laid  aside  her  armor 
and  crossed  the  thresholds  of  the  houses,  teaching 
the  women  to  spin,  and  weave,  and  extract  the 
precious  oil  from  her  olives. 

Everyone  was  growing  very  prosperous  and 
very  rich.  It  seemed  that  the  olive  tree  had 
brought  all  this  wealth,  for  it  had  spread  through- 
out Attica  and  plenty  followed  wherever  it  bore 
fruit. 


108  WONDER  STORIES 

Not  far  from  Athens  lay  the  kingdom  of  the 
Persians  who  were  invincible  in  battle,  having 
devoted  themselves  for  many  years  to  the  arts  of 
warfare.  Through  their  interest  in  their  own 
affairs  the  Athenians  forgot  about  their  warlike 
neighbors,  until  one  fateful  day  when  a  runner 
breathlessly  told  them  that  the  hosts  of  the  Persian 
army  waited  at  the  boundaries  of  their  cities. 

Such  confusion  and  terror  as  ensued!  The 
Athenians  were  not  ready  for  war.  They  con- 
sulted an  oracle  as  to  how  to  meet  the  Persian  host 
and  the  oracle  replied, 

"Trust  to  your  citadel  of  wood  I" 

The  wise  men  of  Athens  quite  misunderstood 
this  advice  and  went  busily  to  work  erecting 
wooden  fortifications  around  the  hill  of  the  Acro- 
polis where  Minerva's  first  olive  tree  stood  as  if  it 
were  guarding  their  prosperity.  The  oracle  had 
meant  for  the  Athenians  to  trust  to  their  fleet 
and  try  to  prevent  the  Persian  army  from  enter- 
ing along  the  coast,  and  by  the  time  the  wooden 
wall  was  built,  the  Persians  had  begun  to  fire  Athens. 

Minerva,  with  her  flaming  spear  raised  and  her 
eyes  filled  with  tears,  went  to  her  father,  Jupiter, 


WONDER  STORIES  109 

to  beg  for  the  safety  of  her  city.  She  kneeled  at 
the  foot  of  his  throne  to  make  her  plea,  and  it 
must  have  been  hard  indeed  for  Jupiter  to  refuse 
his  favorite  daughter  as  he  looked  down  at  Minerva, 
prostrate  before  him  in  her  shining  suit  of  mail. 
But  the  king  of  the  gods  told  Minerva  something 
about  her  city  which  even  he  was  powerless  to 
change. 

"Athens,  in  her  prosperity,  has  forgotten  the 
gods,"  Jupiter  said.  "She  lives  and  works  for  her- 
self and  not  for  others.  She  must  perish  in  order 
that  a  better  and  nobler  city  may  rise  from  her 
ruins." 

So  Minerva  was  obliged  to  watch  from  the 
clouds  as  fire  and  sword  consumed  Athens  and  the 
smoke  of  the  flaming  city  rose  like  incense  to  the 
seats  of  the  gods.  When  there  seemed  to  be  noth- 
ing left  except  the  stones  which  had  been  the  foun- 
dation of  Athens'  beauty,  and  those  of  her  heroes 
who  had  not  perished  had  been  obliged  to  take 
to  the  sea,  Minerva  descended  to  her  hill,  the 
Acropolis.  She  wanted  to  see  if  the  roots,  at 
least,  of  her  olive  tree  had  been  spared,  and  she 
found  a  wonder. 


110  WONDER  STORIES 

As  a  sign  that  she  had  not  forsaken  Athens,  even 
in  ruins,  Jupiter  had  allowed  the  roots  of  her  tree 
to  remain,  and  from  them  there  sprang  a  new  green 
shoot.  With  wonderful  quickness  it  grew  to  a 
height  of  three  yards  in  the  barren  waste  that  was 
all  the  Persians  had  left,  a  sign  that  Athens  was  not 
dead,  but  would  live  and  arise  a  new,  fairer  city. 

Minerva  held  her  bright  shield  above  her  golden 
helmet  and  hastened  to  the  sea  coast,  calling  to- 
gether the  heroes  to  man  the  ships  and  set  sail 
against  the  fleet  of  the  enemy.  The  Persian  fleet 
greatly  outnumbered  that  of  the  Greeks,  but  at 
last  it  was  driven  off  with  terrible  rout  and  those 
of  the  Persians  who  were  left  on  land  were  des- 
troyed. The  war  was  won  for  the  Greeks  through 
Minerva's  help,  but  Jupiter's  prophecy  had  been 
fulfilled.  The  old  Athens  was  gone,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  build  a  new  city. 

That  was  just  the  kind  of  undertaking  that 
Minerva  liked,  to  win  a  defensive  war  and  then 
build  so  as  to  destroy  all  traces  of  it.  She  and 
the  Greeks,  with  the  help  of  all  the  other  gods, 
went  to  work  to  make  Athens  such  a  city  as  had 
not  been  dreamed  of  before. 


WONDER  STORIES  111 

Ceres,  the  goddess  of  agriculture,  restored  the 
waste  fields  and  orchards  so  that  the  olive  grew 
again  and  plenty  came  once  more.  Minerva  busied 
herself  encouraging  the  women  to  do  more  beauti- 
ful handwork  than  before  the  war,  and  she  taught 
them  how  to  feed  and  tend  little  children  so  that 
they  might  grow  up  strong  and  well  and  be  the 
glory  of  Greece.  Large  numbers  of  horses  were 
trained  and  harnessed  to  war  chariots.  Apollo 
sent  sunshine  and  music  to  the  city,  and  the  builders 
erected  beautiful  marble  temples  and  statues  and 
pillars  and  fountains. 

The  Athenians  began  doing  things  together, 
which  always  helps  to  make  a  city  great  and  strong. 
There  were  parades  of  the  soldiers  and  the  athletes 
on  the  holidays,  and  public  games  and  banquets 
and  drills  were  held.  The  best  holiday  of  all  was 
Minerva's  own.  First,  there  was  a  procession  in 
which  a  new  robe  for  the  goddess,  woven  and  em- 
broidered by  the  most  skilful  women  and  girls  of 
Athens,  was  carried  through  the  city  on  a  wagon 
built  in  the  form  of  a  ship,  the  robe  spread  like 
a  sail  on  the  front.  It  was  like  a  great  float  in  a 
parade.  All  Athens  followed  the  wagon,  the 


112  WONDER  STORIES 

young  of  the  nobility  on  horseback  or  in  chariots, 
the  soldiers  fully  armed,  and  the  trades  people 
and  farmers  with  their  wives  and  daughters  in  their 
best  clothes.  The  new  robe  was  intended  for 
the  statue  of  Minerva  that  stood  in  the  Parthenon 
in  Athens.  They  named  her  Pallas  Athene  at 
last,  the  guardian  of  their  beloved  city. 

Then  came  games  in  which  the  athletes  took  part, 
and  the  most  sought  for  prize  was  a  large  earthen- 
ware vase  on  one  side  of  which  there  was  painted 
a  figure  of  Minerva  striding  forward  as  if  she  was 
hurling  her  spear,  and  having  a  column  on  each 
side  of  her  to  indicate  a  race-course.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  vase  was  a  picture  of  the  game 
in  which  it  was  won,  and  it  was  filled  to  brimming 
with  pure  olive  oil  from  Minerva's  tree.  For 
the  Greeks  had  learned  that  war  is  sometimes 
necessary,  but  Minerva  would  heal  their  wounds 
with  the  oil  of  her  sacred  tree  and  the  new  Athens 
was  to  be  known  always  as  one  of  the  most  per- 
fect cities  of  the  ages. 


CADMUS,  THE  ALPHABET  KING 

There  are  many  ways  of  building  a  city,  and  this 
is  how  Cadmus,  in  the  days  of  the  myths,  built 
Thebes,  the  beautiful. 

Cadmus  was  but  a  youth  when  he  began  his 
wanderings  which  took  him  from  shore  to  shore 
of  the  earth,  for  he  was  descended  from  Neptune, 
the  god  of  the  sea,  and  had  been  born  with  the 
spirit  of  the  restless  tides  in  his  heart.  But  Cad- 
mus had  a  longing  to  search  out  and  make  for 
himself  a  home  on  land  where  he  could  gather 
the  heroes  about  him  and  make  temples  and  a 
market  place  and  set  up  fair  statues. 

So  he  consulted  the  oracle  of  Apollo  to  know 
what  country  he  should  settle  in,  and  a  voice  issued 
from  that  strange,  deep  cleft  in  the  rock  at  Del- 
phi saying  that  he  would  find  a  cow  in  a  field,  and 
should  pursue  her  wherever  she  wandered.  Where 
she  stopped  Cadmus  also  should  stop  and  build 
a  city  which  he  was  to  call  Thebes. 

As  soon  as  Cadmus  left  the  cave  of  the  oracle, 
113 


114  WONDER  STORIES 

he  was  surprised  to  see  a  white  cow  wearing  a 
garland  of  flowers  about  her  neck  and  cropping 
in  the  grass  nearby.  She  raised  her  head  when 
Cadmus  appeared,  and  walked  slowly  before  him. 
So  he  followed  her,  and  she  went  on  until  she  came 
to  a  wide  plain  in  the  fertile  land  of  Egypt.  Here 
she  stood  still  and  lifted  her  broad  forehead  to 
the  sky,  filling  the  air  with  her  lowings. 

Cadmus  stooped  down  and  lifted  a  hahdful  of 
the  foreign  soil  to  his  lips,  kissing  it,  and  looking 
with  delight  at  the  beauties  of  the  blue  hills  which 
surrounded  this  spot  to  which  Apollo  had  guided 
him.  He  felt  that  he  ought  to  offer  his  thanks  to 
Jupiter,  and  so  he  went  to  a  nearby  fountain  to 
draw  some  pure  water  to  bathe  his  hands  before  he 
lifted  them  up  to  the  sky. 

The  fountain  spouted,  as  clear  as  crystal,  from 
a  cave  covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  bushes  and 
situated  in  an  ancient  grove  that  had  never  been 
profaned  by  an  axe.  Cadmus  pushed  his  way 
into  it,  and  when  he  was  inside  the  cave  it  seemed 
as  if  he  had  left  the  world  behind,  so  dark  was  it, 
with  the  shadows  of  the  boughs  and  thick  leaves. 

Cadmus  dipped  a  vase  which  his  servants  had 


WONDER  STORIES  115 

brought  him  in  the  waters  of  the  fountain,  and 
was  about  to  raise  it,  brimming  full,  when  it  sud- 
denly dropped  from  his  hands,  the  blood  left  his 
cheeks,  and  his  limbs  trembled.  A  venomous  ser- 
pent whose  eyes  shone  like  fire  and  who  showed 
triple  fangs  and  triple  teeth  raised  its  head  from 
the  waters  with  a  terrible  hiss.  Its  crested  head 
and  scales  glittered  like  burnished  bronze;  it 
twisted  its  body  in  a  huge  coil  and  then  raised 
itself,  ready  to  strike,  to  a  height  that  over-topped 
the  trees  of  the  grove.  And  while  Cadmus'  ser- 
vants stood  still,  unable  to  move  for  their  fright, 
the  serpent  killed  them  all,  some  with  its  poisonous 
fangs,  some  with  its  foaming  breath,  and  others 
in  its  choking  folds. 

There  was  only  Cadmus  left,  and  at  last  he 
crept  out  of  the  cave,  screening  his  body  behind 
the  bushes,  and  made  ready  to  take  his  stand 
against  the  serpent.  He  covered  himself  from 
head  to  foot  with  a  lion's  skin.  In  one  hand  he 
carried  a  javelin  and  in  the  other  a  lance,  but  in 
his  heart  Cadmus  carried  courage  which  was  a 
stronger  weapon  than  either  of  these.  Then  he 
faced  the  serpent,  standing  in  the  midst  of  his 


116  WONDER  STORIES 

fallen  men  and  looking  into  its  bloody  jaws  as  he 
lifted  a  huge  stone  and  threw  it  straight.  It 
struck  the  serpent's  scales  and  penetrated  to  its 
heart.  The  creature's  neck  swelled  with  rage, 
the  panting  breath  that  issued  from  its  nostrils 
poisoned  the  air.  Then  it  twisted  itself  in  a  circle 
and  fell  to  the  ground  where  it  lay  like  the  shattered 
trunk  of  a  tree.  Cadmus,  watching  for  his  chance, 
went  boldly  up  to  the  monster  and  thrust  his 
spear  into  its  head,  fastening  it  to  the  tree  be- 
neath which  it  had  fallen.  The  serpent's  weight 
bent  and  twisted  the  tree  as  it  struggled  to  free 
itself,  but  at  last  Cadmus  saw  it  give  up  the  fight 
and  hang  there,  quiet  in  death. 

Then  a  marvellous  thing  happened.  As  Cad- 
mus stood,  looking  at  his  fallen  foe,  a  voice  came 
to  him  which  he  could  hear  distinctly,  although 
he  was  not  able  to  know  from  whence  it  came, 
and  it  said, 

"It  is  decreed,  O  Cadmus,  that  you  shall  take 
out  the  teeth  of  this  dragon  and  plant  them  in 
the  plain  upon  which  you  are  to  found  the  city  of 
Thebes." 

So  Cadmus  obeyed  the  command.    He  pulled 


WONDER  STORIES  117 

out  the  serpent's  triple  row  of  sharply  pointed 
teeth.  He  made  a  furrow  and  planted  them  in 
it,  and  scarcely  had  he  covered  them  with  earth 
than  the  clods  raised  themselves.  As  happened 
in  the  days  when  Jason  had  traveled  all  the  long 
way  in  search  of  the  fleece  of  gold,  the  ground 
where  the  dragon's  teeth  had  taken  root  was 
pierced  by  the  metal  points  of  helmets  and  spears. 
After  these  sprouting  signs  of  war  came  the  heads 
and  breasts  of  an  army  of  warriors  until  the  entire 
plain  was  bright  with  their  shields  and  the  air 
smoked  and  resounded  with  the  din  of  fearful 
fighting. 

Cadmus  was  only  one  against  the  terrible  ranks 
of  all  these  earth-born  brothers  of  his,  but  he  made 
ready  to  do  his  best  and  encounter  this  new  enemy. 
As  he  advanced,  however,  he  heard  the  unknown 
voice  again, 

"Meddle  not  with  civil  war,  Cadmus,"  it  said. 

But  Cadmus'  spirit  was  fired  with  his  high  desire 
to  build  a  city  which  would  be  a  place  of  peace 
and  industry,  and  he  knew  that  civil  strife  was 
the  destruction  of  such  a  city.  So  he  entered  the 
battle,  single  handed,  and  smote  one  of  these,  his 


118  WONDER  STORIES 

fighting  brothers,  with  a  sword,  but  fell,  pierced 
in  his  side  by  an  arrow.  He  was  up  and  advancing 
again  as  soon  as  he  staunched  the  flow  of  blood, 
killing  four  of  the  warriors.  In  the  meantime 
the  warriors  seemed  to  become  mad  with  the  spirit 
of  warfare  and  killed  each  other  until  the  whole 
crowd  was  pitted  against  one  another.  At  last  all 
of  the  warriors  fell,  mortally  wounded,  except 
five.  These  five  survivors  threw  aside  their  weap- 
ons and  cried,  as  with  one  voice, 

"Brothers,  let  us  live  in  peace." 

And  they  joined  with  Cadmus  in  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  a  great  city  which  they  called  Thebes. 

They  measured  and  laid  out  roads,  making  them 
hard  and  strong  for  the  wheels  of  heavy  chariots 
which  would  bear  kings  to  and  from  the  city. 
They  built  houses  whose  decorations  of  carvings 
and  precious  metals  were  not  to  be  equalled  in  all 
Greece,  and  they  filled  them  with  rare  furnishings, 
and  they  painted  pictures  of  the  contests  of  the 
gods  on  the  walls,  and  shaped  golden  plates  and 
cups  for  the  tables.  They  set  up  a  strong  citadel 
at  the  boundary  line  of  the  city  to  protect  it  from 
invasion,  and  Cadmus  built  factories  for  making 


WONDER  STORIES  119 

tools  and  furniture  and  household  utensils  so  as 
to  draw  traders  to  the  city  and  increase  its  pros- 
perity through  commerce.  And  there  were  seven 
gates  to  Thebes,  in  honor  of  the  seven  strings  of 
Apollo's  lyre  from  which  he  drew  the  sweet  strains 
that  brought  harmony  to  the  earth. 

When  Thebes  was  finished,  it  seemed  as  if  it  had 
no  rival  among  the  cities  of  the  earth,  it  was  so 
good  to  look  upon,  so  full  of  industry,  and  peace, 
and  plenty.  But  Cadmus  had  yet  one  gift  more 
to  make  to  Thebes. 

For  a  long  time  he  worked  secretly,  carving  with 
a  sharp  pointed  tool  upon  a  stone  tablet.  One  day 
he  brought  forth  the  result  of  his  work.  Cad- 
mus had  invented  the  alphabet;  he  had  given  the 
power  of  learning  through  reading  and  writing 
to  his  people. 

That  made  his  city  complete,  for  a  people  who 
are  through  with  civil  strife,  and  able  to  work  and 
be  educated  can  be  as  great  as  the  gods  if  they 
will  it  so. 

They  became  great  and  they  made  Cadmus  the 
king  of  Thebes  for  a  rule  that  was  long  and  just 
and  good. 


THE  PICTURE  MINERVA  WOVE 

Arachne,  the  wonderful  girl  weaver  of  Greece, 
took  a  roll  of  white  wool  in  her  skilled  hands  and 
separated  it  into  long  white  strands.  Then  she 
carded  it  until  it  was  as  soft  and  light  as  a  cloud. 
She  was  at  work  out  of  doors  in  a  green  forest 
and  her  loom  was  set  up  under  an  old  oak 
tree  with  the  sunlight  shining  down  between  the 
leaves  to  brighten  the  pattern  that  she  set  up 
on  it.  In  and  out  her  shuttle  flew  without  stop- 
ping until  she  had  woven  at  last  a  fair  piece  of 
fabric. 

Then  Arachne  threaded  a  needle  with  wool 
dyed  in  rainbow  colors.  She  had  all  the  colors  of 
this  long  arch,  that  the  sunbeams  shining  through 
raindrops  make,  to  use  in  her  work. 

"What  design  will  the  clever  Arachne  embroider 
on  her  tapestry  today?"  one  of  the  Nymphs  of 
the  forest  who  had  clustered  about  her  to  watch 
her  work  asked.  Then  all  the  Nymphs,  looking 
like  a  part  of  the  forest  in  their  soft  green  gar- 
120 


"What  design  will  Arachne  embroider  to-day?"  asked 
one  of  the  nymphs. 


WONDER  STORIES  121 

ments,  crowded  close  as  Arachne  began  to  em- 
broider a  picture.  The  grass  seemed  to  grow  in 
it  beneath  her  needle,  and  the  flowers  bloomed 
just  as  they  always  bloom  in  the  spring. 

"You  weave  and  sew  as  if  the  great  Minerva 
herself  had  taught  you  her  arts/'  a  Nymph  said 
timidly  to  Arachne. 

The  girl's  face  flushed  with  anger.  It  was  true 
that  the  goddess  Minerva  who  presided  over  the 
arts  that  women  need  to  know,  spinning,  weaving 
and  needlework,  had  taught  Arachne  her  skill, 
but  the  girl  was  vain  and  always  denied  it. 

"My  skill  is  my  own,"  she  replied.  "Let  Min- 
erva try  to  compete  with  me  and  if  she  is  able  to 
finish  a  rarer  piece  of  work  than  mine,  I  am  will- 
ing to  pay  any  penalty." 

It  was  a  thoughtless,  daring  boast  which  Arachne 
had  made.  As  she  spoke  the  leaves  of  the  trees 
fluttered,  for  the  Nymphs,  frightened  at  a  mortal's 
presumption,  were  moving  away  from  Arachne. 
She  looked  up  and  in  their  place  saw  an  old  dame 
standing  beside  her. 

"Challenge  your  fellow  mortals,  my  child,"  she 
said,  "but  do  not  try  to  compete  with  a  goddess. 


122  WONDER  STORIES 

You  ought  to  ask  Minerva's  forgiveness  for  your 
rash  words." 

Arachne  tossed  her  head  in  disdain. 

"Keep  your  counsel,"  she  replied,  "for  your  hand- 
maidens. I  know  what  I  say  and  I  mean  it.  I  am 
not  afraid  of  the  goddess.  I  repeat  it;  let  Minerva 
try  her  skill  with  mine  if  she  dare  venture." 

"She  comes  1"  said  the  old  dame,  dropping  her 
disguise  and  appearing  before  Arachne  in  the 
shining  silver  mail  of  the  goddess  Minerva. 

Arachne  grew  pale  with  fear  at  first,  but  her 
presumption  overcame  her  fear.  Her  heart  was 
full  of  her  foolish  conceit  and  she  set  a  new  piece 
of  work  on  her  loom  as  Minerva  produced  a  second 
loom,  and  the  contest  began.  They  attached  the 
web  to  the  beam  and  began  tossing  their  slender 
shuttles  in  and  out  of  the  threads.  They  pushed 
the  woof  up  into  place  with  their  fine  reeds  until 
the  fabric  was  compact.  Then  the  needlework 
was  begun. 

Arachne,  though,  had  decided  to  work  some- 
thing that  was  forbidden  by  the  gods.  She  was 
going  to  use  her  skill  of  hand  and  all  her  art  for 
evil  instead  of  good. 


WONDER  STORIES  123 

She  began  embroidering  a  picture  that  would  be 
displeasing  to  the  gods,  and  she  was  able  to  make 
it  seem  as  if  it  were  alive,  because  of  the  figures 
and  scenes  she  could  outline  with  her  needle  and 
fill  in  with  her  colored  wools.  The  picture  Arachne 
embroidered  was  that  of  the  fair  Princess  Europa 
tending  her  father's  herds  of  cattle  beside  the  sea. 
One  of  the  bulls  seemed  so  tame  that  Europa 
mounted  his  back,  and  he  plunged  into  the  sea  with 
her  and  carried  her  far  away  from  her  native  shores 
to  Greece.  Arachne  pictured  this  bull  as  the 
great  god  Jupiter. 

Minerva's  embroidery  was  of  a  very  different 
pattern  from  this.  She  was  the  goddess  of  wisdom 
and  her  gift  from  Mount  Olympus  to  the  earth 
had  been  the  beautiful  olive  tree  that  gave  mor- 
tals shade,  and  fruit,  and  oil,  and  wood  for  their 
building.  Minerva  stitched  the  pattern  of  a  green 
olive  tree  on  the  tapestry  she  was  embroidering. 

Among  the  leaves  of  the  olive  tree  Minerva 
embroidered  a  butterfly.  It  seemed  to  live  and 
flutter  in  and  out  among  the  olives.  One  could 
almost  touch  the  velvet  nap  that  lay  on  its  wings 
and  the  silk  down  which  covered  its  back;  there 


124  WONDER  STORIES 

were  its  broad,  outstretched  horns,  its  gleam- 
ing eyes,  its  glorious  colors.  Minerva's  work- 
manship was  more  wonderful  than  Arachne  could 
ever  hope  to  learn.  As  they  finished  she  knew 
that  she  was  outdone. 

Minerva  looked  at  Arachne's  tapestry,  woven 
of  pride  and  a  desire  for  vain  conquest.  It  could 
not  be  allowed  to  stand  beside  hers  that  showed 
the  gift  of  life  to  man  in  the  olives  and  such  beauty 
as  that  of  the  butterfly.  The  goddess  struck 
Arachne's  tapestry  with  her  shuttle  and  tore  it  in 
pieces. 

Arachne  was  suddenly  filled  with  an  under- 
standing of  how  she  had  wasted  her  skill,  and 
she  longed  to  get  away  from  all  sight  and  sound 
of  her  weaving.  A  vine  trailed  down  to  the 
ground  from  a  near  by  tree.  Arachne  twisted  it 
about  her  body  and  tried  to  pull  herself  up  by 
it  to  the  tree,  but  Minerva  would  not  allow  this. 
She  touched  Arachne's  form  with  the  juices  of 
aconite  and  at  once  her  hair  came  off,  and  her 
nose  and  her  ears  as  well.  Her  body  shrank  and 
shrivelled  and  her  head  grew  smaller.  Her  fingers 
fastened  themselves  to  her  side  and  served  for 


WONDER  STORIES  125 

legs.     She  hung  from  the  vine  which  changed  to 
a  long  gray  thread. 

Arachne,  the  skilful  weaver  of  Greece,  was 
changed  to  Arachne,  the  spider  of  the  forest. 
Through  all  the  centuries  since  then  she  has  been 
spinning  her  fragile  threads  and  weaving  her  frail 
webs  that  a  breath  of  wind,  even,  can  destroy. 


THE  HERO  WITH  A  FAIRY  GODMOTHER 

The  prince  who  was  the  hero  of  one  of  your 
favorite  once-upon-a-time  stories  was  quite  sure 
to  have  had  a  fairy  godmother  to  watch  over  his 
ways  and  help  in  bringing  his  adventures  to  suc- 
cess. But  Hercules,  the  Great,  of  old  Greece 
than  whom  we  have  never  known  a  greater  hero, 
had  two  fairy  godmothers.  They  were  not  known 
by  exactly  that  name  in  the  days  when  the  myths 
were  made,  but  there  were  two  very  powerful 
goddesses  who  presided  over  Hercules'  destiny, 
and  the  odd  thing  about  it  was  that  no  one  knew 
which  of  these  was  the  more  important. 

Hercules  began  life  just  like  any  other  baby 
except  that  his  father  was  the  mighty  Jupiter,  a 
fact  which  made  everyone  expect  a  great  deal  of 
him.  And  just  as  used  to  happen  in  your  old 
fairy  tales,  he  had  enemies  because  of  his  noble 
birth.  One  of  these  was  the  goddess,  Juno. 

Hercules  lay  in  his  cradle  one  day  before  he 
was  able  to  walk  even,  and  he  suddenly  saw  some- 
126 


WONDER  STORIES  127 

thing  that  would  have  frightened  anyone  much 
older  than  he.  On  each  side  of  his  cradle  there 
appeared  the  green,  hissing  head  of  a  huge  ser- 
pent, their  poisonous  fangs  thrust  out  to  sting  this 
child  of  the  gods  to  death.  Hercules'  attendants 
ran  away  in  terror  not  daring  to  give  fight  to 
the  vipers,  but  he  reached  out  his  tiny  hands, 
gripped  a  serpent  in  each  by  its  throat  and  stran- 
gled them. 

People  began  to  look  at  Hercules  in  wonder  after 
that.  They  watched  him  grow  up,  just  like  any 
other  boy  except  that  his  limbs  were  stronger 
and  his  muscles  harder  than  those  of  the  average 
boy  of  Greece.  There  were  still  those  who  ad- 
mired him  and  those  who  hated  him,  knowing 
that  he  was,  really,  the  son  of  a  god.  So  his  ene- 
mies put  Hercules  in  charge  of  a  kind  of  tutor 
named  Eurystheus  who  was  under  orders  to  give 
him  the  most  impossible  tasks  to  try  and  perform. 

"The  lad  will  fail  and  then  we  shall  be  well  rid 
of  him,"  the  goddess  Juno,  who  particularly  dis- 
liked Hercules,  said. 

Hercules  began  life  in  a  part  of  Greece  that 
was  known  as  the  valley  of  Nemea.  It  was  a 


128  WONDER  STORIES 

place  of  olive  orchards  and  fruit  trees  and  fields  of 
grain,  but  the  terror  of  the  place  was  the  Nemean 
lion  who  lived  close  by  in  the  fastness  of  the  hills. 
There  had  never  been  known  so  huge  a  lion,  with 
such  wide,  blood  thirsty  jaws.  Eurystheus  or- 
dered Hercules  to  bring  him  the  tawny  hide  of 
this  monster. 

"How  shall  I  slay  the  Nemean  lion?"  Hercules 
asked. 

"With  your  arrows  and  your  club,"  Eurystheus 
replied  carelessly,  but  he  knew  that  no  arrows  in 
all  Greece  could  pierce  the  lion's  skin  and  that 
Hercules'  club,  made  of  a  stout  young  tree,  would 
also  be  powerless  against  the  beast. 

"Hercules  will  never  return,"  the  people  of  the 
valley  said  to  each  other  as  they  watched  the 
young  hero  start  out  boldly  toward  the  hills. 

But  he  returned  the  next  day,  as  fresh  and  un- 
troubled as  when  he  had  started,  with  the  hide 
of  the  Nemean  lion  slung  over  his  shoulder. 

"Are  yours  magic  arrows,  and  is  your  club 
charmed  as  well?"  the  youths  who  were  Hercules' 
friends  asked,  crowding  around  him. 

"I  killed  the  lion  with  my  hands  alone,  grasp- 


WONDER  STORIES  129 

ing  him  about  his  throat,"  Hercules  explained 
to  them. 

Eurystheus,  listening  on  the  edge  of  the  crowd, 
frowned  at  these  words.  "I  must  plan  a  greater 
labor  for  him,"  he  thought. 

There  was  a  rich  and  beautiful  city  of  Greece 
named  Argos,  but  a  fearful  monster  called  the 
Hydra  infested  a  swamp  just  outside  it  and  one 
never  knew  when  it  would  descend  upon  the  well 
that  supplied  the  people  with  pure  water.  It  had 
nine  heads  and  one  of  these  was  immortal,  so  the 
rumor  went. 

"Go  to  Argos  and  kill  the  Hydra,"  Eurystheus 
commanded  Hercules. 

Hercules  was  ready  to  dare  this  adventure. 
He  started  out  again  with  no  other  arms  than  he 
had  carried  before  and  when  he  came  to  the  well 
of  Argos  which  kept  the  country  from  drought, 
he  found  the  Hydra  stationed  there.  Going  up 
to  it,  Hercules  struck  off  one  of  its  heads  with 
his  club.  What  was  his  surprise  to  see  two  heads 
grow  in  the  place  of  this  one!  It  was  going  to  be 
a  task  to  destroy  this  creature,  Hercules  under- 
stood, as  he  laid  on  with  his  club  against  the  menac- 


130  WONDER  STORIES 

ing  and  increasing  heads,  hitting  right  and  left  and 
with  no  time  between  his  telling  blows.  He  struck 
off  all  of  the  Hydra's  heads  at  last  except  the  un- 
dying one.  Finally  Hercules  thought  of  a  plan  for 
destroying  this.  He  wrenched  it  off  with  his  mighty 
hands  and  buried  it  deeply  underneath  a  rock. 

"Hercules  shall  be  put  to  a  task  he  will  not  like 
so  well  as  encountering  wild  beasts,"  Eurystheus 
decided  then.  "He  shall  clean  the  Augean  stables. 
We  will  see  if  a  son  of  the  gods  has  the  will  to  ac- 
complish that  labor." 

This  was  indeed  a  labor  with  very  little  of  the 
spirit  of  adventure  in  it.  Old  King  Augeus,  of 
Elis  in  Greece  had  a  herd  of  three  thousand  cattle 
and  their  stalls  in  his  many  stables  had  not  been 
cleaned  for  thirty  years.  The  cattle,  all  of  them 
of  blooded  stock,  were  dying  off  because  they 
were  not  properly  cared  for,  and  there  was  no 
hero  of  the  king's  train  but  felt  the  work  of  clean- 
ing the  stables  to  be  too  menial  for  him. 

Hercules  had  no  such  thought  as  this,  however. 
He  was  ready  to  attempt  the  labor;  his  only  idea 
was  how  to  accomplish  it,  and  thoroughly.  At 
last  he  had  a  very  novel  idea. 


WONDER  STORIES  131 

There  were  scarcely  any  of  the  lesser  gods  of 
outdoors  who  had  not,  by  this  time,  felt  the  strength 
of  Hercules.  There  had  been  the  river  god  who 
took  delight  in  leading  the  waters  of  the  streams 
over  their  banks  and  inundating  the  farms  in  the 
spring  when  the  fields  had  just  been  planted.  Her- 
cules had  wrestled  with  this  river  god  and  had 
broken  off  one  of  his  horns,  on  account  of  which 
he  had  to  keep  the  streams  between  their  banks. 
Hercules  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  take 
advantage  of  his  power  over  the  river  god  in  his 
present  need. 

So  what  did  Hercules  do  but  lead  the  courses  of 
two  streams,  the  Alpheus  and  the  Peneus,  right 
through  the  Augean  stables  cleansing  them  thor- 
oughly. When  he  finished  this  labor,  the  result 
was  so  fine  that  he  had  quite  as  much  reason  to 
be  proud  of  it  as  he  had  over  his  other  prowess. 
It  was  as  splendid  to  use  one's  strength  in  clean- 
ing as  in  any  other  way,  Hercules  discovered. 

He  went  on  from  one  adventure  to  another 
with  the  years,  always  successful  although  every- 
one prophesied  that  some  day  his  strength  would 
fail  and  he  would  have  to  give  up.  Eurystheus 


132  WONDER  STORIES 

wanted  a  new  yoke  of  oxen,  and  none  would  do 
except  those  who  lived  in  the  land  of  the  setting 
sun,  in  the  western  part  of  Greece  and  were  guarded 
by  a  giant  who  had  three  bodies.  Hercules  set 
out  for  the  place  and  when  he  reached  it  he  dis- 
covered that  not  only  the  giant,  but  a  huge  dog 
that  had  two  heads  guarded  the  oxen.  Hercules 
killed  the  giant  and  his  dog  and  drove  the  oxen 
home  to  Eurystheus. 

Victor  over  wild  beasts  and  giants,  and  able  to 
accomplish  any  work  which  he  attempted!  What 
labor  was  there  left  for  this  son  of  Mount  Olym- 
pus? Eurystheus  knew.  He  sent  Hercules  on 
what  seemed  indeed  a  wild  goose  search.  He 
commanded  him  to  bring  back  to  Greece  the  gol- 
den apples  of  the  Hesperides  without  telling  him 
where  they  were  to  be  found. 

They  were  very  plump  and  beautiful  apples 
made  altogether  of  solid  gold.  It  is  said  that  they 
were  the  first  oranges  the  world  had  ever  known. 
However  that  may  be  the  Greeks  wanted  them 
very  much.  Juno  had  received  them  for  a  wed- 
ding present  from  the  goddess  of  Earth,  and  had 
hung  some  on  a  golden  tree  in  the  fair  garden  of 


WONDER  STORIES  133 

the  daughters  of  Hesperis  who  kept  a  dragon  to 
guard  them.  It  would  have  been  a  task  to  pick 
them  even  if  one  had  known  where  to  go  for  them. 
Hercules  started  out,  though,  without  route  or 
chart  and  it  was  the  most  difficult  of  all  his  ad- 
ventures. 

He  met  Antaeus,  a  son  of  the  Earth,  who  was  a 
mighty  giant  and  wrestler.  Hercules  encountered 
this  son  of  the  Earth  and  threw  him  countless 
times,  but  each  time  the  giant  rose  from  the  ground 
with  renewed  strength.  It  was  like  magic,  but 
Hercules  found  out  at  last  the  secret  of  Antaeus' 
strength,  as  you,  also,  will  in  the  next  story,  and 
did  battle  with  him.  Then,  on  went  Hercules, 
for  the  Earth  could  no  longer  stop  him,  and  after 
awhile  he  found  himself  at  Mount  Atlas  in  Africa. 
The  bent  old  giant,  Atlas,  stood  on  the  top  of  this, 
holding  up  the  sky  on  his  shoulders.  He  was  as 
ancient  as  the  mountain  itself  and  doomed  by 
the  gods  to  stand  there  through  the  seasons  and 
never  go  home  to  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides 
where  his  daughters  lived. 

"If  you  will  but  bring  me  the  golden  apples  of 
the  Hesperides,  old  Atlas,  I  will  take  your  place 


134  WONDER  STORIES 

on  the  mountain  top  for  a  space,"  Hercules  said 
to  the  giant. 

"The  sky  is  heavier  than  you  imagine,  my  son," 
Atlas  replied.  "I  doubt  if  you  can  bear  it." 

"Let  me  but  try,"  Hercules  urged  him. 

So  Atlas  shifted  the  burden  of  the  heavens  from 
his  shoulders  to  those  of  Hercules  and  the  hero 
held  them  securely.  When  Atlas  returned,  his 
arms  full  of  the  precious  golden  balls,  Hercules 
still  held  the  sky  as  if  he  scarcely  felt  its  weight. 
Atlas  wanted  to  have  him  hold  it  always,  but 
Hercules  was  of  no  mind  to  do  that.  He  gave  back 
his  load  to  Atlas  and  took  the  apples  of  the  Hes- 
perides  home  to  Greece. 

Hercules  had  conquered  the  earth  even  in  this 
last  adventure,  and  it  seemed  as  if  there  was  no 
great  deed  left  for  this  hero.  But  he  continued 
using  his  mighty  strength,  even  to  descending  to 
Pluto's  realm  of  darkness  and  bringing  back  the 
heroic  Theseus  who  was  a  prisoner  there.  At  last 
even  his  enemies  on  Mount  Olympus  were  forced 
to  grant  him  a  place  of  honor  in  their  midst  and 
Jupiter  wrapped  him  in  a  cloud  and  sent  a  four 
horse  chariot  to  bring  him  home  along  the  road 


WONDER  STORIES  135 

of  the  stars.  When  Hercules  reached  the  Olym- 
pian Heights  it  is  said  that  old  Atlas  bent  still 
lower  with  the  weight  on  his  shoulders,  for  this 
hero  had  added  new  strength  to  the  heavens. 

But  how  about  those  two  goddesses,  you  ask, 
who  presided  like  fairy  godmothers  over  the  des- 
tiny of  Hercules?  The  ancients  asked  that  same 
question,  and  Hercules  answered  it  just  before 
Jupiter  called  him  away  from  Greece. 

One  of  these  goddesses  was  named  Virtue,  and 
the  other  Pleasure,  but  it  was  the  first  whom  Her- 
cules followed  all  his  life. 


*THE  PYGMIES. 

A  great  while  ago,  in  the  days  of  the  myths, 
there  lived  an  earth-born  Giant  named  Antaeus, 
and  a  race  of  little  earth-born  people  who  were 
called  Pygmies.  This  Giant  and  these  Pgymies, 
being  children  of  the  same  Mother  Earth,  lived 
together  in  a  very  friendly  way  far  off  in  the  middle 
of  hot  Africa. 

It  must  have  been  very  curious  to  behold  the 
Pygmies'  little  cities  with  streets  two  or  three 
feet  wide  paved  with  the  smallest  pebbles  and 
bordered  by  habitations  about  as  big  as  a  squirrel's 
cage.  If  one  of  the  Pygmies  grew  to  the  height  of 
six  or  eight  inches  he  was  reckoned  a  prodigiously 
tall  man  and  there  were  so  many  sandy  deserts 
and  high  mountains  between  them  and  the  rest 
of  mankind  that  nobody  could  get  a  peep  at  them 
oftener  than  once  in  a  hundred  years. 

The  king's  palace  was  about  as  tall  as  a  dolls' 
house  and  this  and  the  rest  of  their  houses  were 

*  By  permission  of  and  special  arrangement  with  the  Houghton 
Mifflin  Co. 

136 


WONDER  STORIES  137 

built  neither  of  stone  or  wood.  They  were  neatly 
plastered  together  by  the  Pygmy  workmen,  pretty 
much  like  birds'  nests,  out  of  straw,  feathers,  egg 
shells,  and  other  bits  of  small  stuff  with  stiff  clay 
instead  of  mortar.  And  when  the  sun  had  dried 
them  they  were  just  as  snug  and  comfortable  as 
a  Pygmy  could  desire. 

Their  giant  friend,  Antaeus,  was  so  very  tall 
that  he  carried  a  pine  tree  for  a  walking  stick. 
It  took  a  far-sighted  Pygmy  to  see  the  top  of  his 
head  on  a  cloudy  day.  But  at  noonday,  when  the 
sun  shone  brightly  over  him,  Antaeus  presented 
a  very  grand  spectacle.  There  he  used  to  stand, 
a  perfect  mountain  of  a  man,  with  his  great  coun- 
tenance smiling  down  on  his  little  brothers  and 
his  one  eye,  which  was  as  big  as  a  cart  wheel  and 
placed  right  in  the  centre  of  his  forehead,  giving 
a  friendly  wink  to  the  whole  nation  at  once.  In 
spite  of  the  difference  in  their  size,  it  seemed  as  if 
Antaeus  needed  the  Pygmies  for  his  friend  as 
much  as  they  did  him  for  the  protection  he  was  to 
them.  No  creature  of  his  own  size  had  ever  talked 
with  him.  When  he  stood  with  his  head  among 
the  clouds,  he  was  quite  alone  and  had  been  so  for 


138  WONDER  STORIES 

hundreds  of  years  and  would  be  forever.  Even 
if  he  had  met  one  of  the  other  Giants,  Antaeus 
would  have  fancied  the  earth  not  large  enough 
for  them  both  and  would  have  fought  with  him. 
But  with  the  Pygmies  he  was  the  most  merry 
and  sweet  tempered  old  Giant  who  ever  washed 
his  face  in  a  cloud. 

The  Pygmies  had  but  one  thing  to  trouble  them 
in  the  world.  They  were  constantly  at  war  with 
the  cranes.  From  time  to  time  very  terrible  bat- 
tles had  been  fought  in  which  sometimes  the  little 
men  were  victorious  and  sometimes  the  cranes. 
When  the  two  armies  joined  battle,  the  cranes 
would  rush  forward,  flapping  their  wings,  and 
would  perhaps  snatch  up  some  of  the  Pygmies 
crosswise  in  their  beaks.  It  was  truly  an  awful 
spectacle  to  see  the  little  men  kicking  and  sprawl- 
ing in  the  air  and  then  disappearing  down  the 
crane's  crooked  throat,  swallowed  alive.  If  An- 
taeus observed  that  the  battle  was  going  hard  with 
his  little  allies,  he  ran  with  mile-long  strides  to 
their  rescue,  flourishing  his  club  and  shouting  at 
the  cranes  who  quacked  and  croaked  and  retreated 
as  fast  as  they  could. 


WONDER  STORIES  139 

One  day  the  mighty  Antaeus  was  lolling  at  full 
length  among  his  friends.  His  head  was  in  one 
part  of  the  kingdom  and  his  feet  in  another  and 
he  was  taking  what  comfort  he  could  while  the 
Pygmies  scrambled  over  him  and  played  in  his 
hair.  Sometimes,  for  a  minute  or  two,  the  Giant 
dropped  to  sleep  and  snored  like  the  rush  of  a 
whirlwind.  During  one  of  these  naps  a  Pygmy 
climbed  upon  his  shoulder  and  took  a  view  around 
the  horizon  as  from  the  summit  of  a  hill.  Sud- 
denly he  saw  something,  a  long  way  off,  that  made 
him  rub  his  eyes  and  looked  sharper  than  before. 
At  first  he  mistook  it  for  a  mountain  and  then  he 
saw  the  mountain  move.  As  it  came  nearer, 
what  should  it  turn  out  to  be  but  a  human  shape, 
not  so  large  as  Antaeus,  but  an  enormous  figure 
when  compared  with  the  Pygmies. 

The  Pygmy  scampered  as  fast  as  his  legs  would 
carry  him  to  the  Giant's  ear  and,  stooping  over, 
shouted  in  it, 

"Brother  Antaeus,  get  up  this  minute!  Take 
your  walking  stick  in  your  hand  for  here  comes 
another  Giant  to  do  battle  with  you  I" 

"Pooh,    pooh!"    grumbled    Antaeus,    only    half 


140  WONDER  STORIES 

awake.  "None  of  your  nonsense,  my  little  fellow. 
Don't  you  see  that  I  am  sleepy?  There  is  not 
another  Giant  on  earth  for  whom  I  would  take  the 
trouble  to  get  up." 

But  the  Pygmy  looked  again  and  now  perceived 
that  the  stranger  was  coming  directly  toward 
the  prostrate  form  of  Antaeus.  There  he  was, 
with  the  sun  flaming  on  his  golden  helmet  and 
flashing  from  his  polished  breastplate.  He  had 
a  sword  by  his  side,  and  a  lion's  skin  over  his  back, 
and  on  his  right  shoulder  he  carried  a  club  which 
looked  bulkier  and  heavier  than  the  pine-tree  walk- 
ing stick  of  Antaeus. 

By  this  time  the  whole  nation  of  Pgymies  had 
seen  the  new  wonder  and  a  million  of  them  set 
up  a  shout  all  together, 

"Get  up,  Antaeus  1  Bestir  yourself,  you  lazy 
old  Giant.  Here  comes  another  Giant,  as  strong 
as  you  are,  to  fight  with  you." 

"Nonsense,"  growled  the  sleepy  Giant.  "I'll 
have  my  nap  out,  come  who  may." 

Still  the  stranger  drew  nearer,  and  now  the  Pyg- 
mies could  plainly  discern  that,  if  his  stature  were 
less  iofty  than  the  Giant's,  yet  his  shoulders  were 


WONDER  STORIES  141 

even  broader.  What  a  pair  of  shoulders  they 
must  have  been,  for  they  were,  later,  to  uphold 
the  sky!  So  the  Pygmies  kept  shouting  at  An- 
taeus, and  even  went  so  far  as  to  prick  him  with 
their  swords.  Antaeus  sat  up,  gave  a  yawn  that 
was  several  yards  wide,  and  finally  turned  his 
stupid  head  in  the  direction  in  which  the  little 
people  pointed. 

No  sooner  did  he  set  eye  on  the  stranger  than, 
leaping  to  his  feet  and  seizing  his  walking  stick,  he 
strode  a  mile  or  two  to  meet  him,  all  the  while 
brandishing  the  sturdy  pine-tree  so  that  it  whistled 
through  the  air. 

"Who  are  you?"  thundered  the  Giant,  "and 
what  do  you  want  in  my  domain?  Speak,  you 
vagabond,  or  I'll  try  the  thickness  of  your  skull 
with  my  walking-stick." 

"You  are  a  very  discourteous  Giant,"  answered 
the  stranger  quietly,  "and  I  shall  probably  have 
to  teach  you  a  little  civility  before  we  part.  As 
for  my  name,  it  is  Hercules.  I  have  come  hither 
because  this  is  my  most  convenient  road  to  the 
garden  of  the  Hesperides,  where  I  am  going  to 
get  some  of  the  golden  apples  for  King  Eurystheus." 


142  WONDER  STORIES 

"Then  you  shall  go  no  farther!"  bellowed  An- 
taeus, for  he  had  heard  of  the  mighty  Hercules  and 
hated  him  because  he  was  said  to  be  so  strong. 

"I  will  hit  you  a  slight  rap  with  this  pine-tree, 
for  I  would  be  ashamed  to  kill  such  a  puny  dwarf 
as  you  appear.  I  will  make  a  slave  of  you,  and 
you  shall  likewise  be  the  slave  of  my  brothers  here, 
the  Pygmies.  So  throw  down  your  club.  As  for 
that  lion's  skin  you  wear,  I  intend  to  have  a  pair 
of  gloves  made  of  it." 

"Come  and  take  it  off  my  shoulders  then,"  an- 
swered Hercules,  lifting  his  club. 

At  that  Antaeus,  scowling  with  rage,  strode, 
towerlike,  toward  the  stranger  and  gave  a  mighty 
blow  at  him  with  his  pine-tree,  which  Hercules 
caught  upon  his  club;  and,  being  more  skilful  than 
the  Giant,  he  paid  him  back  such  a  rap  that  down 
tumbled  the  poor  man-mountain  flat  upon  the 
ground.  But  no  sooner  was  the  Giant  down  than 
up  he  bounded,  aiming  another  blow  at  Hercules. 
But  he  was  blinded  with  his  wrath  and  only  hit 
his  poor,  innocent  Mother  Earth,  who  groaned 
and  trembled  at  the  stroke.  His  pine  tree  went 
so  deep  into  the  ground  that  before  Antaeus  could 


WONDER  STORIES  143 

get  it  out,  Hercules  brought  his  club  down  over 
his  shoulders  with  a  mighty  whack  which  made 
the  Giant  let  out  a  terrible  roar.  Away  it  echoed, 
over  mountains  and  valleys.  As  for  the  Pygmies, 
their  capital  city  was  laid  in  ruins  by  the  vibration 
it  made  in  the  air. 

But  Antaeus  scrambled  to  his  feet  again  and  suc- 
ceeded in  pulling  his  pine-tree  out  of  the  earth.  He 
ran  at  Hercules,  and  brought  down  another  blow. 

'This  time,  rascal!"  he  shouted,  "y°u  shall  not 
escape  me.'* 

But  once  more  Hercules  warded  off  the  stroke 
with  his  club,  and  the  Giant's  pine-tree  was  shat- 
tered to  a  thousand  splinters.  Before  Antaeus 
could  get  out  of  the  way,  Hercules  let  drive  again, 
and  gave  him  another  knock-down  blow.  Then, 
watching  his  opportunity  as  the  Giant  rose  again, 
Hercules  caught  him  round  the  middle  with  both 
hands,  lifted  him  high  into  the  air,  and  held  him 
aloft. 

But  the  most  wonderful  thing  was  that,  as  soon 
as  Antaeus  was  off  the  earth,  he  began  to  lose  the 
vigor  that  it  now  appeared  he  had  gained  by  touch- 
ing it.  Hercules  soon  discovered  that  his  enemy 


144  WONDER  STORIES 

was  growing  weaker,  both  because  he  kicked  and 
struggled  with  less  violence,  and  because  the  thunder 
of  his  big  voice  subsided  to  a  grumble.  The  truth 
was  that,  unless  the  Giant  touched  Mother  Earth 
as  often  as  once  in  five  minutes,  not  only  his  over- 
grown strength,  but  the  very  breath  of  his  life 
would  depart  from  him.  Hercules  had  guessed 
this  secret;  it  may  be  well  for  us  all  to  remember 
it  in  case  we  should  ever  have  to  fight  with  a  fellow 
like  Antaeus.  For  these  earth-born  Giants  are  not 
only  difficult  to  conquer  on  their  own  ground 
but  may  easily  be  managed  if  we  can  contrive 
to  lift  them  into  a  loftier  and  purer  region. 

When  Antaeus'  strength  and  breath  were  gone, 
Hercules  gave  his  huge  body  a  toss  and  flung  it  a 
mile  off  where  it  lay  heavily  with  no  more  motion 
than  a  sand  hill.  His  ponderous  form  may  be  ly- 
ing in  the  same  spot  to-day,  and  might  be  mistaken 
for  those  of  an  uncommonly  large  elephant. 

What  a  wailing  the  poor  little  Pygmies  set  up 
when  they  saw  their  enormous  brother  treated  in 
this  terrible  way  I  As  soon  as  they  saw  Hercules 
preparing  for  a  nap,  they  nodded  their  little  heads 
at  one  another  and  winked  their  little  eyes.  And 


WONDER  STORIES  145 

when  he  had  closed  his  eyes  the  whole  Pygmy 
nation  set  out  to  destroy  the  hero. 

A  body  of  twenty  thousand  archers  marched  in 
front  with  their  little  bows  all  ready  and  their 
arrows  on  the  string.  The  same  number  were 
ordered  to  clamber  on  Hercules,  some  with  spades 
to  dig  his  eyes  out,  and  others  with  bundles  of  hay 
to  plug  up  his  mouth  and  nostrils.  These  last 
could  not  harm  him  at  all,  for  as  soon  as  he  snored 
he  blew  out  the  hay  and  sent  the  Pygmies  flying 
before  the  hurricane  of  his  breath.  It  was  found 
necessary  to  hit  upon  some  other  way  of  carrying 
on  the  war. 

After  holding  a  council,  the  captains  ordered 
their  troops  to  collect  sticks,  straws  and  dry  weeds 
and  heap  them  around  the  head  of  Hercules.  The 
archers,  meanwhile,  were  stationed  within  bow 
shot  with  orders  to  let  fly  at  Hercules  the  instant 
that  he  stirred.  Everything  being  in  readiness, 
a  torch  was  applied  to  the  pile  which  immediately 
burst  into  flames  and  soon  waxed  hot  enough  to 
roast  Hercules.  A  Pygmy,  you  know,  though  so 
very  small,  might  set  the  world  on  fire  just  as 
easily  as  a  Giant  could. 


146  WONDER  STORIES 

But  no  sooner  did  Hercules  begin  to  be  scorched 
than  up  he  started. 

"What's  all  this?"  he  cried,  and  staring  about 
him  as  if  he  expected  another  Giant. 

At  that  moment  the  twenty  thousand  archers 
twanged  their  bow  strings  and  the  arrows  came 
whizzing  like  so  many  mosquitoes.  Hercules 
gazed  around,  for  he  hardly  felt  the  arrows.  At 
last,  looking  narrowly  at  the  ground,  he  espied 
the  Pygmies  at  his  feet.  He  stooped  down  and 
taking  up  the  nearest  one  between  his  thumb  and 
finger,  set  him  on  the  palm  of  his  left  hand  and 
looked  at  him. 

"Who  in  the  world,  my  little  fellow,  are  you?" 
Hercules  asked. 

"I  am  your  enemy,"  answered  the  Pygmy. 
"You  have  slain  the  Giant,  Antaeus,  our  brother 
by  our  mother's  side,  and  we  are  determined  to 
put  you  to  death." 

Hercules  was  so  amused  by  the  Pygmy's  big 
words  and  warlike  gestures  that  he  burst  into 
laughter  and  almost  dropped  the  poor  little  mite 
of  a  creature  off  his  hand. 

"Upon  my  word,"  he  said,  "I  thought  I  had 


WONDER  STORIES  147 

seen  wonders  before  to-day,  hydras  with  many 
heads,  three  headed  dogs,  and  giants  with  fur- 
naces in  their  stomachs,  but  you  outdo  them  all. 
Your  body,  my  little  friend,  is  about  the  size  of 
an  ordinary  man's  finger.  Pray,  how  big  may 
your  soul  be?'* 

"As  big  as  your  own,"  said  the  Pygmy. 

Hercules  was  amazed  at  the  little  man's  cour- 
age, and  so  he  left  the  Pygmies,  one  and  all,  in 
their  own  country,  building  their  little  houses, 
waging  their  little  warfare  with  the  cranes,  and 
doing  their  little  business  whatever  it  might  have 
been. 


THE  HORN  OF  PLENTY. 

Dejanira  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  prin- 
cesses who  lived  in  the  long  ago  days  of  the  Greek 
gods  and  goddesses.  It  seemed  as  if  all  the  charm 
of  the  world  in  this,  its  myth  time,  was  hers.  Her 
hair  was  bright  with  the  yellow  of  the  first  spring 
sunshine,  and  her  eyes  were  as  blue  as  the  skies 
of  spring.  Summer  had  touched  Dejanira's  cheeks 
with  the  pink  of  rose  petals,  and  the  colors  of  the 
autumn  fruits  shone  in  her  jewels,  crimson  and 
purple  and  gold.  Her  robes  were  as  white  and 
soft  as  the  snows  of  winter,  and  all  the  music  of 
soft  winds  and  bird  songs  and  rippling  brooks 
was  in  this  princess'  voice. 

Because  of  her  beauty  and  her  goodness,  which 
even  surpassed  it,  princes  came  from  all  over  the 
world  to  ask  Dejanira's  father,  Aeneus,  if  she 
might  go  home  to  their  kingdoms  to  be  their 
queen.  But  to  all  these  Aeneus  replied  that 
to  none  but  the  strongest  would  he  give  the 
princess. 

148 


WONDER  STORIES  149 

So  there  were  many  tests  of  these  strangers'  skill 
and  strength  in  games  and  wrestling,  but  one  by 
one  they  failed.  At  last  there  were  only  two 
left,  Hercules  who  was  strong  enough  to  hold 
the  sky  on  his  broad  shoulders,  and  Achelous,  the 
river-god,  who  twisted  and  twined  through  the 
fields  making  them  fertile  with  the  brooks  and 
the  streams.  Each  thought  himself  the  greater 
of  the  two,  and  it  lay  between  them  which 
by  his  prowess  should  gain  the  princess  to  be 
his  wife. 

Hercules  was  massive  of  limb  and  of  powerful 
strength.  Beneath  his  shaggy  eyebrows,  his  eyes 
gleamed  like  balls  of  fire.  His  garment  was  of 
lions'  skins  and  his  staff  was  a  young  tree.  But 
the  clever  Achelous  was  able  to  slip  between  the 
huge  fingers  of  Hercules.  He  was  as  slender  and 
graceful  as  a  willow  tree  and  his  garment  was  of 
the  green  of  foliage.  He  wore  a  crown  of  water 
lilies  on  his  fair  hair,  and  carried  a  staff  made  of 
twined  reeds.  When  Achelous  spoke,  his  voice 
was  like  the  rippling  of  a  stream. 

"The  Princess  Dejanira  shall  be  minel"  said 
Achelous.  "I  will  make  her  the  queen  of  the 


150  WONDER  STORIES 

river  lands.  The  music  of  the  waters  shall  be 
always  in  her  ears,  and  the  plenty  that  follows 
wherever  I  go  shall  make  her  rich." 

"Nol"  shouted  Hercules.  "I  am  the  strength 
of  the  earth.  Dejanira  is  mine.  You  shall  not 
have  her." 

Then  the  river-god  grew  very  angry.  His  green 
robe  changed  its  color  to  that  of  the  black  of  the 
sea  in  a  storm,  and  his  voice  was  as  loud  as  that 
of  a  mountain  cataract.  Achelous  could  be  almost 
as  powerful  as  Hercules  when  he  was  angered. 

"How  do  you  dare  claim  this  royal  maiden?"  he 
roared,  "you,  who  have  mortal  blood  in  your 
veins  I  I  am  a  god  and  the  king  of  the  waters. 
Wherever  I  take  my  way  over  the  earth  grains  and 
fruits  ripen  and  flowers  bud  and  bloom.  The 
Princess  Dejanira  is  mine  by  right." 

Hercules  frowned  as  he  advanced  toward  the 
river-god.  "Your  strength  is  only  in  words," 
he  said  scornfully.  "My  strength  is  in  my  arm. 
If  you  would  win  Dejanira,  it  must  be  by  hand- 
to-hand  combat."  So  the  river-god  threw  off  his 
garments  and  Hercules  his  lion's  skin,  and  the  two 
fought  for  the  hand  of  the  princess. 


WONDER  STORIES  151 

It  was  a  brave  and  valorous  battle.  Neither 
yielded;  both  stood  their  ground.  Achelous  slipped 
in  and  out  of  Hercules'  mighty  grasp  a  dozen 
times,  but  at  last  the  hero's  powerful  strength 
was  too  much  for  this  god  who  had  to  depend 
upon  adroitness  only.  Hercules  gripped  the  river- 
god  fast  by  his  neck  and  held  him,  panting  for 
breath. 

Then  Achelous  resorted  to  the  trickery  that 
he  knew.  He  suddenly  changed  his  form  through 
the  magic  arts  he  could  practise  to  that  of  a  long, 
slimy  serpent.  He  twisted  out  of  Hercules'  grasp 
and  darted  a  forked  tongue  out  at  him,  showing 
his  fangs.  Hercules  was  not  yet  undone.  He 
only  laughed  scornfully  at  the  serpent  and  grasped 
the  creature  by  the  back  of  its  neck,  ready  to 
strangle  it. 

Achelous  struggled  in  vain  to  escape  and  at  last 
resorted  once  more  to  sorcery.  In  a  second  the 
serpent  had  changed  its  form  to  that  of  a  fero- 
cious, roaring  bull.  It  charged  upon  Hercules  with 
lowered  horns.  But  the  hero  was  still  unvan- 
quished.  He  seized  hold  of  the  bull's  horns,  bent 
its  head,  gripped  its  brawny  neck  and  threw  it, 


152  WONDER  STORIES 

burying  its  horns  in  the  ground.  Then  he  broke 
off  one  of  the  horns  with  his  iron  strong  hand  and 
held  it  up  in  the  air  shouting, 

"Victory!    Dejanira  is  mine!" 

Achelous  returned  to  his  own  shape  and,  crying 
with  pain,  ran  from  the  castle  grounds  where  the 
combat  had  taken  place  and  did  not  stop  until  he 
had  plunged  into  a  cooling  stream.  It  had  been 
right  that  Hercules  should  triumph,  for  his  was 
the  strength  of  arm,  not  of  trickery. 

The  Princess  Dejanira  came  to  him  and  with 
her  the  goddess  of  plenty,  Ceres,  to  give  the  con- 
queror his  reward. 

Ceres  took  the  great  horn  which  Hercules  had 
torn  from  Achelous'  head  and  heaped  it  full  to 
overflowing  with  the  treasures  of  the  year's  har- 
vest. Ripe  grain,  purple  grapes,  rosy  apples, 
plums,  nuts,  pomegranates,  olives  and  figs  filled 
the  horn  and  spilled  over  the  edge.  The  wood- 
nymphs  and  the  water-nymphs  came  and  twined 
the  horn  with  vines  and  crimson  leaves  and  the  last 
bright  flowers  of  the  year.  Then  they  carried  this 
first  horn  of  plenty  high  above  their  heads  and 
gave  it  to  Hercules  and  the  beautiful  Dejanira  as 


WONDER  STORIES  153 

a  wedding  present.    It  was  the  richest  gift  the  gods 
could  make,  that  of  the  year's  harvest. 

And  ever  since  that  long-ago  story  time  of  the 
Greeks,  the  horn  of  plenty  has  stood  for  the  year's 
blessing  of  us. 


THE  WONDER  THE  FROGS  MISSED 

Latona  had  very  wonderful  twin  babies  and 
the  queen  of  the  gods,  Juno,  was  jealous  of 
her  on  account  of  these  little  ones.  Perhaps  Juno 
had  the  power  to  look  ahead  through  the  years 
to  the  time  when  Latona's  children  should  be 
grown  up  and  take  their  places  with  the  family  of 
the  gods  on  Mount  Olympus. 

Who  were  these  twins?  Oh,  that  is  the  end 
of  the  story. 

So  Juno,  who  could  work  almost  any  good  or 
evil  which  she  desired,  decreed  that  this  mother 
should  never  have  any  fixed  home  in  which  to 
bring  up  her  babies.  If  Latona  found  a  shelter 
and  a  cradle  for  the  twins  in  the  cottage  of  some 
hospitable  farmer,  a  drought  would  descend  at 
once  upon  his  fields  and  dry  up  the  harvest,  or 
a  hailstorm  would  destroy  his  fruit  crop  so  that 
there  would  be  no  food  for  the  family.  If  Latona 
stopped  with  the  vine  dressers,  laying  her  babies 
in  the  cool  shade  of  an  arbor  while  she  helped  to 
pick  the  grapes,  a  gale  might  arise  and  sweep  down 
154 


WONDER  STORIES  155 

upon  the  vineyard  and  all  would  have  to  flee  for 
their  lives. 

She  was  obliged  to  wander  up  and  down  the 
land  with  her  little  ones,  wrapping  her  cloak  about 
them  to  shield  them  from  the  weather,  and  she 
grew  very  weary  and  despaired  of  ever  raising  her 
little  boy  and  girl  to  be  the  fine  man  and  woman 
she  longed  to  have  them. 

One  day  in  the  heat  of  the  summer  Latona  came 
to  the  country  of  Lycia  in  Greece  and  it  really 
seemed  as  if  she  could  not  walk  a  single  step  far- 
ther. The  babies  were  heavy  and  she  had  found 
no  water  for  refreshing  herself  for  a  long  time. 
By  chance,  though,  she  saw  a  pool  of  clear  water 
just  beyond  in  the  hollow  of  a  valley.  Some  of 
the  country  people  of  Lycia  were  there  on  the  edge 
of  the  water  gathering  reeds  and  fine  willows  with 
which  they  were  weaving  baskets  for  holding 
fruits.  Latona  summoned  all  her  strength  and 
dragged  herself  to  the  pool,  kneeling  down  on  the 
bank  to  drink  and  dip  up  water  for  cooling  the 
babies'  heads. 

"Stop  I"  the  rustic  people  commanded  her.  "You 
have  no  right  to  touch  our  waters  1" 


156  WONDER  STORIES 

"I  only  wish  to  drink,  kind  friends,"  Latona  ex- 
plained to  them.  "I  thought  that  water  was  free 
to  all,  and  my  mouth  is  so  dry  that  I  can  hardly 
speak.  A  drink  of  water  would  be  nectar  to  me. 
The  gods  give  us  as  common  property  the  sun- 
shine, the  air,  and  the  streams  and  I  would  only 
share  your  pool  to  revive  me,  not  to  bathe  in  it 
See  how  my  babies,  too,  stretch  out  their  arms 
to  you  in  pleading!" 

It  was  quite  true;  Latona's  little  ones  were  hold- 
ing out  their  arms  in  supplication,  but  the  rustics 
turned  their  heads  away.  They  did  more  than 
this.  They  waded  into  the  pool  and  stirred  up  the 
water  with  their  feet  so  as  to  make  it  muddy  and 
unfit  to  drink.  As  they  did  this  they  laughed  at 
Latona's  discomfiture  and  jeered  at  her  sorry  plight. 

She  was  a  long  suffering  mother,  but  she  felt 
as  if  this  unkindness  was  more  than  she  could 
bear.  She  lifted  her  hands  toward  the  habitation 
of  the  gods  and  called  to  them  for  help. 

"May  these  rustics  who  refuse  to  succor  two 
children  of  your  family  be  punished  I"  Latona 
begged.  "May  they  never  be  able  to  leave  this 
pool  whose  clear  waters  they  have  defiled  1" 


WONDER  STORIES  157 

The  company  of  the  gods,  and  perhaps  Juno 
also,  heard  Latona's  entreaty  and  one  of  the  strang- 
est things  of  all  mythology  happened. 

The  rustics  tried  to  leave  the  pool  and  return 
to  their  basket-making,  but  they  discovered  that 
their  feet  had  suddenly  grown  flat  and  shapeless 
and  were  stuck  fast  in  the  mud.  They  called  for 
help,  but  their  voices  were  harsh,  their  throats 
bloated,  and  their  mouths  had  stretched  so  that  they 
were  unable  to  form  words.  Their  necks  had  dis- 
appeared and  their  heads,  with  great  bulging  eyes, 
were  joined  to  their  backs.  Their  flesh  was  turned 
to  thick  green  skin  and  they  could  not  stand  erect. 

It  was  as  Latona  had  asked.  These  boorish,  un- 
seeing country  clowns  would  never  leave  the  slimy 
water  into  which  they  had  stepped,  for  the  gods 
had  changed  them  into  the  first  frogs. 

"This  is  indeed  a  terrible  punishment  for  so 
slight  an  offence  as  ridiculing  a  stranger,"  the 
people  of  Lycia  said  to  each  other  as  they  visited 
the  pools  and  rivers  during  the  seasons  that  fol- 
lowed and  listened  to  the  continual,  hoarse  croak- 
ing of  the  frogs.  The  river  god,  Peneus,  knew 
them  also  and  so  did  the  lovely  nymph,  Daphne, 


158  WONDER  STORIES 

his  daughter,  who  was  never  happier  than  when 
she  was  flying  on  her  fairy  like  feet,  her  soft  green 
garments  fluttering  about  her,  along  the  edge  of 
some  stream. 

Daphne  was  more  like  a  spirit  of  the  woods 
than  a  girl.  She  would  rather  live  within  the 
shadow  of  leaves  than  under  a  palace  roof,  and 
she  liked  better  to  follow  the  deer  and  gather  wild 
flowers  than  to  have  any  intercourse  with  the  boys 
and  girls  of  the  villages.  But  she  was  unmatched 
by  the  most  beautiful  daughter  of  all  Greece,  her 
long  hair  flung  loose  like  a  veil  over  her  shoulders, 
her  eyes  as  soft  and  shining  as  stars,  and  her  body 
as  graceful  and  well  moulded  as  some  rare  vase. 

At  that  time  a  strange  youth  was  seen  to  haunt 
the  forests  and  banks  of  the  river  god.  He  was  as 
fair  and  well  shaped  as  Daphne,  and  there  was  also 
something  unusual  about  him.  Whenever  he  was 
seen,  there  seemed  to  be  more  light  along  the  paths 
where  he  walked.  He  made  the  daytime  brighter 
and  the  gold  rays  of  the  sun  shine  more  glori- 
ously. When  this  youth  stopped  .for  a  while 
with  a  shepherd,  no  wolves  attacked  the  flock,  and 
he  kept  herds  safe  from  the  mountain  lions.  He 


WONDER  STORIES  159 

had  made  a  lyre  for  himself,  a  musical  instru- 
ment of  many  tuneful  strings  that  had  not  been 
heard  in  Greece  before.  He  was  touching  the 
strings  into  a  song  about  the  pastures  and  the 
woods  in  the  spring  one  day  when  he  suddenly 
saw  the  nymph,  Daphne. 

He  had  seen  her  before  moving  like  a  green  bough 
blown  by  the  wind  along  the  shores  of  many  waters. 
He  thought  that  he  had  never  seen  so  beautiful 
a  creature  or  one  so  much  to  be  desired,  but  when- 
ever Daphne  caught  a  glimpse  of  this  strange, 
strong  youth,  she  was  frightened  and  was  at  once 
off  and  away.  Now,  though,  he  was  determined 
to  pursue  Daphne  and  catch  her.  He  dropped 
his  lyre  and  ran  after  her,  but  she  eluded  him, 
running  more  swiftly  than  the  wind. 

"Stay,  daughter  of  Peneus,"  he  called.  "Do 
not  fly  from  me  as  a  dove  flies  from  a  hawk.  I 
am  no  rude  peasant,  but  one  of  the  gods  and  I 
know  all  things,  present  or  future.  It  is  for  love 
that  I  pursue  you,  and  I  am  miserable  in  the  fear 
that  you  may  fall  and  hurt  yourself  on  these  stones 
and  I  shall  have  been  the  cause  of  your  hurt.  Pray 
run  slower  and  I  will  follow  more  slowly!" 


160  WONDER  STORIES 

But  Daphne  was  deaf  to  the  youth's  entreat- 
ing words.  On  she  sped,  the  wind  blowing  her 
green  garments,  and  her  hair  streaming  loosely 
behind  her.  It  was,  at  last,  like  the  fleet  running 
hound  pursuing  the  hare;  the  youth  was  swifter 
and  gained  on  her.  His  panting  breath  touched 
her  neck.  In  her  terror  she  did  not  stop  to  under- 
stand that  he  pursued  her  only  because  he  loved 
her  so  much  and  that  he  would  not  do  her  any 
harm. 

At  last  she  came  to  the  edge  of  a  stream. 

On  one  side  of  Daphne  were  the  croaking  frogs 
and  the  water  reeds  and  the  deeper  waters  beyond. 
On  the  other  side  was  her  pursuer.  Daphne  called 
to  her  father,  the  river  god, 

"Help  me,  Peneus!  Open  the  earth  to  take  me 
into  it  out  of  sight  and  sound  1" 

But  the  god  of  light  and  music  knew  what  was 
better  far  for  Daphne  than  this.  He  touched 
her  fair  form  and  it  stiffened  and  her  feet  stood 
firmly  upon  the  bank  of  the  stream.  Her  body 
was  suddenly  enclosed  in  tender  bark  and  her 
hair  became  leaves.  Her  arms  were  long,  droop- 
ing branches  and  her  face  changed  to  the  form  of 


WONDER  STORIES  161 

a  tree  top.  There  had  never  been  a  tree  like  the 
one  into  which  Daphne  was  transformed,  the 
green  laurel  tree. 

The  young  god  looked  at  her  and  saw  how  fair  a 
work  of  his  hands  was  this  changing  of  a  nymph. 
The  tree  would  never  fade,  but  would  stretch  its 
green  top  up  toward  the  sky  to  feel  the  light  that 
he  would  pour  down  on  it.  When  the  wind  touched 
the  laurel's  leaves  they  would  sing  as  his  lyre  sang. 

"Come  and  see  what  beauty  I  have  given  to 
the  nymph,  Daphne,  whom  I  loved,"  he  called, 
and  out  of  the  forest  came  a  brave  young  hunt- 
ress, a  deer  walking  quite  unafraid  at  her  side. 
It  was  Diana,  his  sister,  and  she  hung  her  quiver  of 
arrows  on  the  laurel  tree  and  led  the  deer  to  a 
shelter  underneath  its  branches. 

"This  shall  be  my  tree,"  he  said  putting  his 
hands  on  the  laurel.  "I  will  wear  it  for  my  crown, 
and  when  the  great  Roman  conquerors  lead  their 
troops  to  the  Capitol  in  triumphal  pomp  it  shall 
be  woven  into  wreaths  for  their  brows.  As  eternal 
youth  is  mine,  the  laurel  shall  always  be  green 
and  its  leaves  shall  never  wither." 

The  sun  began  to  sink  behind  the  hills  and  the 


162  WONDER  STORIES 

youth  saw  the  light  fade  in  terror.  He  could  give 
the  laurel  the  brightness  of  day  but  he  had  no 
power  to  keep  it  safe  through  the  darkness  of 
night.  Just  then  a  silver  ball  appeared  in  the 
purple  sky  rising  higher  and  higher  and  sending 
down  long  white  beams  to  brighten  the  dusk. 

"Diana,  see,  there  is  a  light  in  the  evening  sky!" 
the  youth  exclaimed,  but  his  sister  had  disappeared. 
Diana,  the  huntress,  was  now  Diana,  the  moon, 
the  queen  of  the  darkness  and  shedding  her  light 
on  the  laurel  tree  that  her  brother,  Apollo,  the 
god  of  the  sun,  loved  so  much. 

The  frogs  along  the  river  bank  croaked  harshly 
and  could  not  understand  any  of  these  wonders 
that  had  come  to  pass  right  beside  them.  They 
had  missed  a  wonder  when  they  were  rustics,  too. 
There  are  some  people  like  that.  They,  too,  would 
see  only  a  ragged,  weary  stranger  with  her  tired 
babies,  not  worth  the  trouble  of  helping,  when 
those  little  ones  might  be  an  Apollo  and  a  Diana, 
the  gods  of  the  day  and  the  night 


WHEN  PHAETON'S  CHARIOT  RAN  AWAY. 

"You  are  only  boasting,  Phaeton.  I  don't  be- 
lieve for  a  moment  that  your  father  is  Apollo,  the 
god  of  light,"  Cycnus,  one  of  his  schoolmates,  said 
to  the  lad  who  had  just  made  this  proud  state- 
ment. 

"It  is  true."  Phaeton  replied.  "You  won't  be- 
lieve me  because  I  am  alone  here  in  Greece,  cared 
for  by  one  of  the  nymphs  and  learning  the  lessons 
that  all  Greek  boys  do.  I  shall  show  you,  though. 
I  will  take  my  way  to  the  home  of  the  gods  and 
present  myself  to  my  father." 

That  was  indeed  a  bold  plan  on  the  part  of  this 
youth  who  had  not  been  beyond  the  shores  of  his 
native  land  in  all  his  life.  But  Phaeton  set  out  at 
once  for  India,  since  that  was  the  place  where  the 
sun  which  lighted  Greece  seemed  to  rise.  He 
felt  sure  that  he  would  find  Apollo  at  the  palace  of 
the  Sun,  so  he  did  not  stop  until  he  had  climbed 
mountains  and  then  beyond  and  higher  through 
the  steeps  of  the  clouds.  Suddenly  he  was  obliged 
163 


164  WONDER  STORIES 

to  stop,  covering  his  eyes  with  his  hands  to  shut 
out  the  brilliant  light  that  dazzled  him.  There, 
in  front  of  Phaeton,  reared  aloft  on  shining  col- 
umns, stood  the  palace  of  the  Sun. 

It  glittered  with  gold  and  precious  stones,  and 
Phaeton  made  his  way  inside  through  heavy  doors 
of  solid  silver.  He  had  heard  of  the  beautiful 
workmanship  of  Vulcan  who  had  designed  Apollo's 
palace,  but  when  he  stood  beneath  the  polished 
ivory  ceilings  of  the  throne  room  it  was  more  won- 
derful than  anything  he  had  ever  imagined. 

Apollo,  in  a  royal  purple  robe,  sat  on  the  throne 
that  was  as  bright  as  if  it  had  been  cut  from  a  solid 
diamond,  and  about  him  stood  his  attendants 
who  helped  him  in  making  the  earth  a  pleasant, 
fruitful  habitation  for  men.  On  Apollo's  right 
hand  and  on  his  left  stood  the  Days,  the  Months, 
and  the  Years,  and  at  regular  intervals  the  Hours. 
Spring  was  there,  her  head  crowned  with  flowers, 
and  Summer  who  wore  a  garland  formed  of  spears 
of  ripened  grain.  Autumn  stood  beside  Apollo, 
his  feet  stained  with  the  juice  of  the  grape,  and 
there  was  icy  Winter,  his  hair  stiffened  with  hoar 
frost.  There  was  nothing  hidden  from  Apollo  in 


WONDER  STORIES  165 

the  whole  world  and  he  saw  Phaeton  the  instant 
he  entered  the  hall. 

"What  is  your  errand  here,  rash  lad?"  he  asked 
sternly. 

Phaeton  went  closer  and  knelt  at  the  foot  of  the 
throne. 

"Oh,  my  father,  light  of  the  boundless  world!" 
he  said.  "I  want  to  be  known  as  your  son.  Give 
me  some  proof  by  which  I  can  show  mortals  and 
the  gods  as  well  that  I  am  not  of  the  earth  but  have 
a  place  with  you  on  Mount  Olympus!" 

Apollo  was  pleased  with  the  pleading  of  the 
youth  and,  laying  aside  the  crown  of  bright  beams 
that  he  wore  on  his  head,  stretched  out  his  arms 
and  embraced  Phaeton. 

"My  son,  you  do  not  deserve  to  be  disowned," 
he  said.  "To  put  an  end  to  your  doubts  ask  what- 
ever favor  you  like  of  me  and  the  gift  shall  be 
yours." 

It  was  wonderful;  Phaeton  had  never,  in  his 
dreams  even,  expected  so  great  a  boon  as  this. 
But  he  was  as  reckless  and  ambitious  as  many  a 
boy  of  to-day  who  fancies  himself  able  to  carry 
on  his  father's  work  without  all  the  skill  and  ex- 


166  WONDER  STORIES 

perience  which  earned  his  success.  He  knew  at 
once  the  desire  that  was  closest  to  his  heart. 

4 Tor  one  day  only,  father,  let  me  drive  your 
chariot?"  Phaeton  begged. 

Apollo  drew  back  in  dismay. 

"I  spoke  rashly,"  he  said.  "That  is  the  one 
request  I  ought  to  refuse  you.  It  is  not  a  safe 
adventure  or  suited  to  your  youth  and  strength, 
Phaeton.  Your  arms  are  mortal  and  you  ask  what 
is  beyond  mortal's  power.  You  aspire  to  do  that 
which  even  the  gods  can  not  accomplish.  No 
one  but  myself,  not  even  Jupiter  whose  terrible 
right  arm  hurls  the  thunderbolts  and  the  lightning, 
may  drive  the  flaming  chariot  of  day." 

"Why  is  it  so  difficult  a  task?"  Phaeton  asked, 
determined  not  to  give  up. 

Apollo  explained  to  him  with  great  patience. 

"It  is  a  difficult  track  to  keep  through  the  skies," 
he  said.  "The  beginning  of  the  way  is  so  steep 
that  the  horses,  even  when  they  are  fresh  in  the 
morning,  can  hardly  be  urged  to  climb  it.  Then 
comes  the  middle  of  the  course,  so  high  up  in  the 
heavens  and  so  narrow  that  I  myself  can  scarcely 
look  below  without  giddiness  at  the  earth  and 


WONDER  STORIES  167 

its  waters.  The  last  part  of  the  course  descends 
rapidly  and  calls  for  most  expert  driving.  Add  to 
all  this  the  constant,  dizzy  turning  of  the  sky  with 
its  sea  of  stars.  I  must  be  always  on  my  guard 
lest  their  movement,  which  sweeps  everything 
along  with  it,  should  hurry  me  or  throw  me  out  of 
my  course.  If  I  lend  you  my  chariot,  what  can 
you,  a  boy,  do?  Can  you  keep  the  road  with  all 
the  spheres  in  the  universe  revolving  around  you?'* 

"I  am  sure  that  I  can,  father."  Phateon  replied 
boldly.  "What  you  say,  of  course,  does  not  deter 
me  from  starting  along  it.  I  have  a  strong  arm 
and  a  steady  eye  for  driving.  There  is  no  danger 
other  than  this  on  the  way,  is  there?"  he  asked. 

"There  are  greater  dangers,"  Apollo  said.  "Do 
you  expect  to  pass  cool  forests  and  white  cities, 
the  abodes  of  the  gods,  and  palaces,  and  temples 
on  the  way?  The  road  goes  through  the  domain 
of  frightful  monsters.  You  must  run  the  gauntlet 
of  the  Archer's  arrows  and  pass  by  the  horns  of 
the  Bull.  The  Lion's  jaws  will  be  open  to  devour 
you,  the  Scorpion  will  stretch  out  its  tentacles 
for  you,  and  the  great  Crab  its  claws.  And  you 
will  find  it  no  easy  feat  to  manage  the  horses,  their 


168  WONDER  STORIES 

breasts  so  full  of  fire  that  they  breathe  it  out  in 
flame  through  their  nostrils.  I  can  scarcely  hold 
them  myself  when  they  are  unruly  and  resist  the 
reins." 

"I  have  driven  a  chariot  at  the  games  of  Athens," 
Phaeton  boasted,  "when  wild  beasts  were  close 
to  the  arena,  and  my  steeds  were  most  unmanage- 
able." 

Apollo  made  one  last  plea. 

"Look  the  universe  over,  my  son,"  he  entreated, 
"and  choose  whatever  is  most  precious  in  the 
earth  or  on  the  sea.  This  will  I  give  you  in  proof 
that  you  are  my  son,  but  take  back  your  other, 
rash  request." 

"I  have  only  one  wish,  to  drive  the  chariot  of 
the  Sun,"  Phaeton  answered  stubbornly. 

There  was  but  one  course  left  then  for  Apollo, 
because  a  god  could  never  break  his  promise.  With- 
out a  word  he  led  Phaeton  to  the  great  stable 
where  he  kept  his  lofty  chariot. 

The  chariot  was  a  gift  of  Vulcan  to  Apollo,  and 
made  of  gold.  The  axle  was  of  gold,  the  pole 
and  wheels  also  of  gold,  and  the  spokes  of  the 
brightest  silver.  There  were  rows  of  chrysolites 


WONDER  STORIES  169 

and  diamonds  along  the  seat  that  reflected  the  rays 
of  the  sun.  Apollo  ordered  the  Hours  to  harness 
the  horses  and  they  led  the  steeds,  full  fed  with 
ambrosia,  from  the  stalls,  and  attached  the  reins. 
As  Phaeton,  full  of  pride,  watched  he  saw  that 
Dawn  had  thrown  open  the  purple  gates  of  the 
east  and  his  pathway,  strewn  with  roses,  stretched 
before  him.  He  seated  himself  in  the  chariot  and 
took  the  reins. 

Apollo  anointed  his  son's  face  with  a  powerful 
unguent  that  would  make  it  possible  for  him  to 
endure  the  flaming  heat  of  the  sun.  He  set  the 
rays  of  light  on  his  head  and  said  sorrowfully, 

"If  you  will  be  so  rash,  I  beg  of  you  to  hold  the 
reins  more  tightly  than  you  ever  did  before  and 
spare  the  whip.  The  horses  go  fast  enough  of 
their  own  accord,  and  the  difficulty  is  to  hold  them 
in.  You  are  not  to  take  the  direct  road,  but  turn 
to  the  left.  You  will  see  the  marks  of  my  wheels 
and  these  will  guide  you.  Go  not  too  high,  or  you 
will  set  the  heavenly  dwellings  on  fire,  or  so  low 
as  to  burn  the  earth,  but  keep  to  the  middle  course 
which  is  best.  Night  is  just  passing  out  of  the 
western  gates  so  you  can  delay  no  longer.  Start 


170  WONDER  STORIES 

the  chariot,  and  may  your  chance  work  better 
for  you  than  you  have  planned." 

Phaeton  stood  up  in  the  gilded  chariot,  lifted 
the  reins,  and  was  off  like  a  dart. 

In  an  instant  the  snorting,  fiery  horses  discov- 
ered that  they  were  carrying  a  lighter  load  than 
usual  and  they  dashed  through  the  clouds  as  if 
the  chariot  had  been  empty.  It  reeled  and  was 
tossed  about  like  a  ship  at  sea  without  ballast.  The 
bars  of  the  sky  were  let  down  and  the  limitless  plain 
of  the  universe  lay  before  the  horses.  They  left 
Apollo's  travelled  course  and  Phaeton  was  power- 
less to  guide  them.  He  looked  down  at  the  earth 
so  far  below  him,  and  he  grew  pale  and  his  knees 
shook  with  terror.  He  turned  his  eyes  on  the 
trackless  heavens  in  front  of  him  and  was  even 
more  terrified  to  see  the  huge  forms  among  which 
he  rode  as  if  he  was  driven  by  a  tempest;  the 
Archer,  the  Great  Bear,  the  Lion  and  the  Crab. 
All  those  monsters  of  whom  Apollo  had  warned 
him  were  there,  and  others  too. 

Phaeton  wished  he  had  never  left  the  earth, 
never  made  so  bold  a  request  of  his  father.  He 
lost  his  self  command  and  could  not  tell  whether 


WONDER  STORIES  171 

to  draw  the  reins  tightly  or  let  them  loose.  He 
forgot  the  names  of  the  steeds.  At  last,  as  he  saw 
the  Scorpion  directly  in  his  path,  its  two  great 
arms  extended  and  its  fangs  reeking  with  poison, 
he  lost  all  his  courage  and  the  reins  dropped 
from  his  hands.  As  the  horses  felt  their  loosened 
harness,  they  dashed  away  headlong  into  unknown 
regions  of  the  sky,  now  up  in  high  heaven  among 
the  stars  and  then  hurling  the  chariot  down  al- 
most to  the  earth. 

The  mountain  tops  took  fire  and  the  clouds 
began  to  smoke.  Plants  withered,  the  leafy 
branches  of  the  trees  burned,  the  harvests  blazed 
and  the  fields  were  parched  with  heat.  The  whole 
world  was  on  fire.  Great  cities  perished  with  their 
beautiful  towers  and  high  walls,  and  entire  na- 
tions with  all  their  people  were  reduced  to  ashes. 
It  is  said  that  the  river  Nile  fled  away  and  hid  its 
head  in  the  desert  where  it  still  lies  concealed. 
The  earth  cracked  and  the  sea  shrank.  Dry  plains 
lay  where  there  had  been  oceans  before  and  the 
mountains  that  had  been  covered  by  the  sea  lifted 
up  their  heads  and  became  islands.  Even  Nep- 
tune, the  god  of  the  sea,  was  driven  back  by  the 


172  WONDER  STORIES 

heat  when  he  tried  to  lift  his  head  above  the  sur- 
face of  the  waters,  and  the  Earth  looked  up  to 
Mount  Olympus  and  called  to  Jupiter  for  help. 

It  was  indeed  time  for  the  gods  to  act.  Jupiter 
mounted  to  the  tall  tower  where  he  kept  his  forked 
lightnings  and  from  which  he  spread  the  rain 
clouds  over  the  earth.  He  tossed  his  thunder- 
bolts right  and  left  and,  brandishing  a  dart  of  light- 
ning in  his  right  hand,  he  aimed  it  at  Phaeton  and 
threw  it,  tossing  him  from  his  chariot  down,  down 
through  space.  The  charioteer  fell  in  a  trail  of 
fire  like  a  shooting  star.  One  of  the  great  rivers  of 
the  earth  received  him  and  tried  to  cool  his  burn- 
ing frame,  but  he  was  never  again  to  see  the  palace 
of  the  Sun.  His  recklessness  had  brought  him, 
not  honor,  but  destruction. 

Phaeton's  friend,  Cycnus,  stood  beside  the  bank 
of  the  river  mourning  for  him  and  even  plunged 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  water  to  see  if  he  could 
bring  him  back  to  the  earth.  But  this  angered 
the  gods  and  they  changed  Cycnus  to  the  swan 
who  floats  always  on  the  water,  continually  thrust- 
ing its  head  down  as  if  it  were  still  looking  for  the 
fated  charioteer  of  the  skies. 


WONDER  STORIES  173 

Even  the  sea  shell  tells  the  story  of  Phaeton. 
Hold  it  to  your  ear  and  listen  to  its  plaintive  sing- 
ing of  the  lad  who  lost  a  place  in  the  palace  of  the 
sun  because  he  drove  the  chariot  of  light  for  his 
own  pride  and  without  thought  of  others. 


WHEN  APOLLO  WAS  HERDSMAN. 

Apollo  had  incurred  the  anger  of  his  father, 
Jupiter,  and  for  the  very  good  reason  that 
this  god  of  light  had  interfered  with  Jupiter's 
will. 

It  was  Jupiter's  privilege  to  throw  thunder- 
bolts about  whenever  he  wished  and  to  strike  down 
anyone  he  chose.  He  kept  the  Cyclopes  busy 
night  and  day  forging  his  bolts  down  under  the 
mountains  so  that  he  might  have  a  never-failing 
supply.  One  day  a  thunderbolt  directed  by  Jove 
hit  Aesculapius,  a  man  of  the  Greeks  who  could 
heal  almost  any  sickness  among  mortals  by  means 
of  his  herbs.  Apollo  looked  upon  this  physician 
as  an  adopted  son,  because  his  art  of  healing  brought 
so  much  joy  and  light  to  men.  He  resented  the 
injury  done  him  by  Jupiter's  hand  and  he  did 
what  even  mortals  do  when  they  are  angry;  Apollo 
vented  his  wrath  on  whoever  was  handiest.  He 
aimed  his  arrows  at  those  innocent  workmen,  the 
Cyclopes,  and  wounded  several. 
174 


WONDER  STORIES  175 

Jupiter  could  not  have  his  authority  put  aside 
in  this  way  and  he  knew  that  he  must  punish  Apollo. 
So  he  commanded  him  to  descend  to  the  earth  and 
offer  his  services  as  herdsman  to  Admetus,  the 
king  of  Thessaly. 

It  was  very  humble  work  for  a  god  to  wear  a  shep- 
herd's dark  cloak  and  pasture  his  flocks  in  the 
meadows  outside  of  Thessaly,  particularly  a  god 
who  was  used  to  living  in  the  sumptuous  palace 
of  the  sun.  Apollo's  slender  hands  were  little 
suited  to  the  work  of  ploughing,  sowing  and  reap- 
ing, but  he  took  excellent  care  of  his  ewes  and 
lambs  and  grew  to  enjoy  his  task.  In  his  leisure 
time  he  found  an  empty  tortoise-shell  and  stretched 
some  cords  tightly  across  it.  Then  he  ran  his 
slender  finger  tips  across  the  cords  and  drew  from 
them  most  beautiful  music.  That  was  the  first 
lute,  and  Apollo  played  on  it  every  day.  King 
Admetus  heard  his  music  and  came  out  to  listen 
to  the  tunes  his  herdsman  played,  sitting  beside 
Apollo  on  a  mossy  bank,  but  he  looked  very  sor- 
rowful. The  sweet  strains  seemed  to  have  no 
power  to  cheer  him,  or  even  rouse  him  from  his 
sadness. 


176  WONDER  STORIES 

"Why  do  you  mourn,  O  King?"  Apollo  asked 
Admetus  at  last. 

"I  long  for  the  hand  of  the  fair  Alcestis,  the 
princess  of  a  neighboring  kingdom,  that  I  may  make 
her  my  queen,"  King  Admetus  explained,  "but 
she  has  expressed  a  strange  desire.  She  demands 
that  her  suitor  appear  before  her  in  a  chariot  drawn 
by  lions  and  bears  in  which  she  will  ride  home 
with  him.  In  no  other  way  will  Alcestis  come  to 
my  court  and  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  harness 
wild  beasts  to  any  one  of  my  chariots." 

Apollo  could  not  help  but  be  amused  at  the  fool- 
ish whim  of  this  wayward  princess,  but  he  had  a 
desire  to  bring  happiness  wherever  he  went  so  he 
decided  to  humor  her.  He  went  with  his  lute 
to  the  edge  of  the  forest  that  lay  just  next  to  his 
pasture  and  he  played  a  tune  upon  it  so  sweet  as 
to  tame  any  wild  beasts.  Then  out  of  the  forest 
came  two  lions  and  two  bears,  as  quietly  as  if  they 
had  been  sheep.  The  king  fastened  them  to  a 
gilded  chariot  and  drove  off  for  Alcestis  with  great 
rejoicing.  And  Apollo  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
the  two  return  and  Alcestis  crowned  as  the  queen 
of  Thessaly. 


Apollo  charms  the  wild  beasts. 


WONDER  STORIES  177 

It  seemed  as  if  Admetus  were  destined  to  enjoy 
a  long  and  prosperous  reign,  but  shortly  after 
he  brought  his  queen  home  he  fell  ill  of  a  very 
deadly  plague.  Aesculapius,  the  physician,  was 
no  longer  able  to  come  to  the  king's  aid  and  it 
seemed  as  if  there  was  no  hope  for  him.  But  his 
celestial  herdsman,  Apollo,  again  befriended  him. 
Apollo  was  not  able  to  entirely  remove  the  plague 
but  he  decreed  that  the  king  should  live  if  some- 
one, who  cared  enough  for  him,  would  die  in  his 
stead. 

Admetus  was  full  of  joy  at  this  hope.  He  re- 
membered the  vows  of  faith  and  attachment  that 
bound  all  his  courtiers  to  him  and  he  expected 
that  a  score  would  at  once  offer  themselves,  will- 
ing to  sacrifice  their  lives  for  their  king.  But  not 
one  was  to  be  found.  The  bravest  warrior,  who 
would  willingly  have  given  his  life  for  his  king  on 
the  battlefield,  had  not  the  courage  to  die  for  him 
on  a  sick-bed.  Old  servants,  who  had  known  the 
king's  bounty  and  that  of  his  father  from  the  days 
of  their  childhood,  were  not  willing  to  give  up  the 
rest  of  their  few  days  for  their  sovereign.  Each 
subject  wished  someone  else  to  make  the  sacrifice. 


178  WONDER  STORIES 

"Why  do  not  the  parents  of  Admetus  give  their 
lives  for  their  son?"  was  asked,  but  these  aged 
people  felt  that  they  could  not  bear  to  be  parted 
from  him  for  even  a  short  time,  and  looked  to 
others. 

What  was  to  be  done  about  it.  It  was  an  irre- 
vocable decree  on  the  part  of  Apollo  that  he  had 
wrested  only  by  means  of  much  persuasion  from 
the  Fates.  There  was  no  remedy  for  Admetus 
except  this  sacrifice. 

Then  a  very  strange  and  wonderful  thing  hap- 
pened. Queen  Alcestis,  the  fair  princess  who  had 
wanted  to  ride  behind  lions  and  bears  when  she 
was  a  girl  in  her  own  kingdom,  had  grown  very 
wise  and  gracious  since  she  had  attained  to  the 
throne  of  Thessaly.  It  had  never  for  an  instant 
entered  the  minds  of  anyone  that  she  could  be 
offered  to  the  gods  in  the  place  of  the  king.  But 
Queen  Alcestis  offered  herself  to  save  Admetus, 
and  as  she  sickened  the  king  revived  and  was  re- 
stored to  his  old  health  and  vigor. 

Apollo  was,  of  all  the  mourners  of  Thessaly,  the 
saddest  to  see  Alcestis  so  ill.  She  had  often  found 
her  way  to  the  pastures  where  he  led  his  flock  and 


WONDER  STORIES  179 

had  sat  on  a  bank  twining  wreaths  of  wild  flowers 
that  she  liked  better  to  wear  than  a  crown,  while 
he  entertained  her  with  the  music  of  his  lute.  And, 
for  once,  Apollo  did  not  know  what  to  do,  banished 
as  he  was  from  the  council  of  the  gods  for  a  while, 
and  unable  to  summon  the  physician,  Aesculapius, 
to  his  aid. 

He  knew  that  only  great  strength  could  bring 
Alcestis  back  from  the  stupor  in  which  she  now 
lay,  neither  moving  or  speaking,  and  with  her 
rosy  cheeks  pale  and  her  eyes  closed.  He  knew, 
too,  that  of  all  the  heroes  Hercules  was  the  strongest 
Hercules  had  performed  feats  that  no  one  had 
believed  possible.  Would  he  attempt  to  keep 
Alcestis  safe  from  death,  Apollo  wondered,  par- 
ticularly when  he  was  entreated  by  a  lowly 
herdsman? 

Hercules  assented,  however.  He  took  his  sta- 
tion at  the  gates  of  the  palace  and  wrestled  with 
Death,  throwing  him,  just  as  he  was  about  to  enter 
and  claim  Alcestis.  She  lost  her  weakness,  opened 
her  eyes,  the  color  came  again  to  her  cheeks  and 
she  was  restored  to  Admetus  by  this  last  labor 
of  Hercules. 


180  WONDER  STORIES 

So  the  matter  which  had  bade  fair  to  be  so  dis- 
astrous for  a  good  many  people  turned  out  very 
well  after  all.  Apollo  returned  to  Mount  Olympus 
when  the  period  of  his  exile  on  the  earth  was  up 
and  he  delighted  the  Muses  much  with  the  sweet 
tones  of  his  lyre.  He  even  pleaded  with  his  father, 
Jupiter,  to  take  pity  on  Aesculapius  and  the  god  at 
last  made  a  place  for  the  physician  on  the  road  of 
stars  that  leads  across  the  sky. 


HOW  JUPITER  GRANTED  A  WISH. 

Each  of  the  villagers  in  a  town  of  Phrygia  heard 
a  knock  at  the  door  of  his  cottage  one  summer  day 
in  the  long-ago  time  of  the  myths.  Each,  on 
opening  it,  saw  two  strangers,  weary  travellers, 
who  sought  food  and  a  shelter  for  the  night. 

It  was  a  part  of  the  temple  teachings  that  a 
man  should  succor  a  stranger,  no  matter  how 
humble,  but  these  Phrygians  were  a  pleasure- 
loving,  careless  people,  neglectful  of  hospitality  and 
of  their  temple,  even,  which  had  fallen  into  decay. 

So  it  happened  that  the  same  retort  met  the 
strangers  at  whatever  door  they  stopped. 

"Be  off!  We  have  only  sufficient  food  for  our- 
selves and  no  room  for  any  but  members  of  our  own 
family." 

There  was  not  a  single  door  but  was  shut  in  the 
faces  of  these  travellers. 

The  afternoon  was  passing  and  it  would  soon  be 
dusk.    The   strangers,    tired   and   half   famished, 
climbed  a  hill  on  the  edge  of  the  village  and  came 
181 


182  WONDER  STORIES 

at  last  upon  a  little  cottage  set  there  among  the 
trees.  It  was  a  very  poor  and  humble  cottage, 
thatched  with  straw,  and  barely  large  enough  for 
the  two  old  peasants,  Philemon  and  his  wife,  Baucis, 
who  lived  there.  But  it  opened  at  once  when  the 
strangers  knocked  to  let  in  the  two  strangers. 

"We  have  come  to-day  from  a  far  country,"  the 
one  who  seemed  to  be  the  older  of  the  two  ex- 
plained. 

"And  we  have  not  touched  food  since  yester- 
day," added  the  younger  one  who  might  have 
been  his  son. 

"Then  you  are  welcome  to  whatever  we  have  to 
offer  you,"  said  Philemon.  "We  are  as  poor  as  the 
birds  that  nest  in  the  straw  of  our  eaves,  but  my 
old  wife,  Baucis,  can  prepare  a  meal  from  very 
little  which  may  perhaps  serve  you  if  you  are 
hungry.  Come  in,  and  share  with  us  whatever  we 
have." 

The  two  guests  crossed  the  humble  threshold, 
bowing  their  heads  in  order  to  pass  beneath  the  low 
lintel,  and  Baucis  offered  them  a  seat  and  begged 
them  to  try  and  feel  at  home. 

The  day  had  grown  chilly  and  the  old  woman 


WONDER  STORIES  183 

raked  out  the  coals  from  the  ashes,  covered  them 
with  leaves  and  dry  bark,  and  blew  the  fire  into 
flame  with  her  scanty  breath.  Then  she  brought 
some  split  sticks  and  dry  branches  from  a  corner 
where  she  had  kept  them  like  a  treasure  and  put 
them  under  the  kettle  that  hung  over  the  fire. 
Afterward,  she  spread  a  white  cloth  on  the  table. 

As  Baucis  made  these  preparations,  Philemon 
went  out  to  their  small  garden  and  gathered  the 
last  of  the  pot-herbs.  Baucis  put  these  to  boil 
in  the  kettle  and  Philemon  cut  a  piece  from  their 
last  flitch  of  bacon  and  put  it  in  to  flavor  the  herbs. 
A  bowl  carved  from  beech  wood  was  filled  with 
warm  water  that  the  strangers  might  be  refreshed 
by  bathing  their  faces,  and  then  Baucis  tremblingly 
made  the  preparations  for  serving  the  meal. 

The  guests  were  to  sit  on  the  only  bench  which 
the  cottage  afforded  and  Baucis  laid  a  cushion 
stuffed  with  seaweed  on  it  and  over  the  cushion 
she  spread  a  piece  of  embroidered  cloth,  ancient 
and  coarse,  but  one  that  she  used  only  on  great 
occasions.  One  of  the  legs  of  the  table  was  shorter 
than  the  other,  but  Philemon  placed  a  flat  stone 
under  it  to  make  it  level,  and  Baucis  rubbed  sweet 


184  WONDER  STORIES 

smelling  herbs  over  the  entire  top  of  the  table. 
Then  she  placed  the  food  before  the  strangers, 
the  steaming,  savory  herbs,  olives  from  the  wild 
trees  of  Minerva,  some  sweet  berries  preserved  in 
vinegar,  cheese,  radishes,  and  eggs  cooked  lightly 
in  the  ashes.  It  was  served  in  earthen  dishes  and 
beside  the  guests  stood  an  earthenware  pitcher  and 
two  wooden  cups. 

There  could  hardly  have  been  a  more  appetizing 
supper,  and  the  kindly  cheer  of  the  two  old  peas- 
ants made  it  seem  even  more  delectable.  The 
guests  ate  hungrily  and  when  they  had  emptied 
the  dishes  Baucis  brought  a  bowl  of  rosy  apples 
and  a  comb  of  wild  honey  for  dessert.  She  noticed 
that  the  two  seemed  to  be  enjoying  their  milk 
hugely  and  it  made  her  anxious,  for  the  pitcher  had 
not  been  more  than  half  full.  They  filled  their 
cups  again  and  again  and  drained  them. 

"They  will  finish  the  milk  and  ask  for  more," 
Baucis  thought,  "and  I  have  not  another  drop." 

Then  a  great  fear  and  awe  possessed  the  old 
woman.  She  peered  over  the  shoulder  of  the  older 
of  the  strangers  into  the  pitcher  and  saw  that  it 
was  brimming  fulll  He  poured  from  it  for  his 


WONDER  STORIES  185 

companion  and  it  was  again  full  to  overflowing 
as  he  set  it  down.  Here  was  a  miracle,  Baucis 
knew.  Suddenly  the  strangers  rose  and  their  dis- 
guise of  age  and  travel  stained  garments  fell  from 
them.  They  were  Jupiter,  the  king  of  the  gods, 
and  his  winged  son,  Mercury! 

Baucis  and  Philemon  were  struck  with  terror  as 
they  recognized  their  heavenly  guests,  and  they 
fell  on  their  knees  at  the  gods'  feet.  With  their 
shaking  hands  clasped  they  implored  the  gods  to 
pardon  them  for  their  poor  entertainment. 

They  had  an  old  goose  which  they  tended  and 
cherished  as  the  guardian  of  their  cottage,  and 
now  they  felt  that  they  must  kill  it  as  a  sacrifice 
and  offering  to  Jupiter  and  Mercury.  But  the 
goose  ran  nimbly  away  from  them  and  took  refuge 
between  the  gods  themselves. 

"Do  not  slay  the  bird,"  Jupiter  commanded. 
"Your  hospitality  has  been  perfect.  But  this  in- 
hospitable village  shall  pay  the  penalty  for  its  lack 
of  reverence.  You  alone  sjhall  remain  unpunished. 
Come  and  look  at  the  valley  below." 

Baucis  and  Philemon  left  the  cottage  and  hobbled 
a  little  way  down  the  hill  with  the  gods.  In  the 


186  WONDER  STORIES 

last  light  of  the  setting  sun  they  saw  the  destruc- 
tion which  the  people  below  had  brought  upon 
themselves.  There  was  nothing  left  of  the  village. 
All  the  valley  was  sunk  in  a  blue  lake,  the  borders 
of  it  being  wild  marsh  land  indented  with  pools  in 
which  the  fen-birds  waded  and  called  shrilly. 

"There  is  no  house  left  save  ours,"  Philemon 
gasped. 

Then,  as  they  turned,  they  saw  that  their  cot- 
tage, also,  had  disappeared.  It  had  not  been 
destroyed,  though.  It  was  transformed.  Stately 
marble  columns  had  taken  the  place  of  the  wooden 
corner  posts.  The  thatch  had  grown  yellow  and 
was  now  a  golden  roof.  There  were  colored  mosaic 
floors  and  wide  silver  doors  with  ornaments  and 
carvings  of  gold.  Their  little  hut,  that  had  been 
scarcely  large  enough  for  two,  had  grown  to  the 
height  and  bulk  of  a  temple  whose  gilded  spires 
reached  up  toward  the  sky.  Baucis  and  Phile- 
mon were  too  awed  for  words,  but  Jupiter  spoke 
to  them. 

"What  further  gift  of  the  gods  would  you  like, 
good  people?  Ask  whatever  you  wish  and  it  shall 
be  granted  you." 


WONDER  STORIES  187 

The  two  old  folks  consulted  for  a  moment  and 
then  Philemon  made  their  request  of  Jupiter. 

"We  would  like  to  be  the  guardians  of  your 
temple,  great  Jupiter.  And  since  we  have  passed 
so  much  of  our  lives  here  in  harmony  and  love,  we 
wish  that  we  might  always  remain  here  and  never 
be  parted  for  a  moment." 

As  Philemon  finished  speaking,  he  heard  Jupiter 
say,  "Your  wish  is  granted."  And  with  these  words 
the  gods  disappeared  from  earth.  There  was  a 
long  trail  of  purple  light  in  the  sky  like  Jupiter's 
robe,  and  beside  it  lay  two  wing-shaped  clouds 
which  marked  the  road  Mercury  had  taken,  but 
that  was  all. 

Baucis  and  Philemon  went  into  the  temple  and 
were  its  keepers  as  long  as  they  were  able.  One 
day  in  the  spring  when  the  old  couple  had  become 
very  ancient  indeed  they  stood  on  the  temple  steps 
side  by  side,  looking  at  the  new  green  the  earth 
was  putting  forth.  In  that  moment  another  miracle 
happened  to  them. 

Each  grew  straight  instead  of  bent  with  age, 
and  their  garments  were  covered  with  green  leaves. 
A  leafy  crown  grew  upon  the  head  of  each  and  as 


188  WONDER  STORIES 

they  tried  to  speak,  a  covering  of  bark  prevented 
them.  Two  stately  trees,  the  linden  and  the  oak, 
stood  beside  the  temple  door  to  guard  it  in  the 
place  of  the  two  good  old  people  who,  for  their 
reverence,  had  been  thus  transformed  by  the  gods. 


HOW  HYACINTHUS  BECAME  A  FLOWER. 

Kings  and  athletes,  country  folk  and  the  musi- 
cians, sages  and  merchants  from  the  towns  were 
all  on  their  way  toward  the  green  hill  of  Parnassus, 
one  of  the  long-ago  days  of  the  myths,  where  the 
city  of  Delphi  stood.  The  kings  rode  in  their 
gaily  adorned  chariots  which  were  drawn  by  the 
fleetest  steeds  from  the  royal  stables.  The  youths 
were  dressed  for  running,  or  they  carried  flat,  cir- 
cular discs  of  stone  for  throwing  at  a  mark,  jave- 
lins and  bows  and  quivers  of  arrows.  The  road 
that  led  to  the  white  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi 
was  choked  with  people  on  foot,  people  on  horse- 
back, and  people  riding  in  farm  wagons,  all  going 
in  the  same  direction.  It  was  a  very  great  occa- 
sion indeed,  one  that  came  but  once  in  five  years, 
the  day  when  the  Pythian  games  in  honor  of  Apollo 
were  held  at  Delphi. 

They  climed  the  hill  of  Parnassus  which  was  a 
very  famous  mount,  because  of  all  that  had  hap- 
pened there.  When  the  gods  saw  fit  to  destroy  the 
189 


190  WONDER  STORIES 

earth,  Parnassus,  alone,  had  raised  its  head  above 
the  waters  and  sheltered  man.  There,  too,  Apollo 
had  transformed  his  beloved,  Daphne,  into  a  laurel 
tree  and  ever  since  then  the  slopes  of  the  hill  had 
been  green  and  pink  with  the  branches  and  blos- 
soms of  the  laurel.  Now,  Parnassus  sheltered 
one  of  the  most  famed  cities  of  Greece,  Delphi, 
and  on  a  wide  plain,  near  a  deep  cleft  in  the  rock 
where  the  oracle  was  supposed  to  speak,  the  games 
of  the  Greeks  were  held  in  honor  of  Apollo,  who 
was  the  god  of  sports. 

The  ground  about  the  game  field  and  the  tiers  of 
stone  seats  surrounding  it  were  soon  filled  with  a 
crowd  of  onlookers  in  their  holiday  garments  of 
white  and  purple  and  gold.  Upon  a  carved  mar- 
ble pillar  at  the  entrance  of  the  field  was  hung 
a  great  wreath  of  laurel,  the  prize  of  the  win- 
ner, and  everyone  was  talking  about  who  this 
would  be. 

"The  greatest  test  of  all  is  the  discus  throwing," 
a  lad  on  the  edge  of  the  crowd  said  to  another. 
"The  stone  that  is  hurled  from  a  javelin,  or  a  spear 
thrown  by  a  trained  soldier  has  a  chance  to  go 
straight  to  the  mark,  but  who  can  aim  the  thin 


WONDER  STORIES  191 

discus  with  the  wind  waiting  to  turn  it  from  its 
course  and  carry  it  wide  of  the  mark?" 

The  other  lad  thought  for  a  moment.  Then  he 
spoke. 

"The  youth,  Hyacinthus,  could,"  he  said. 

"Oh,  Hyacinthus!"  the  first  lad  replied  as  if 
the  name  was  a  kind  of  spell  to  work  magic.  "Hya- 
cinthus, of  course,  would  win  the  prize,  for  is  he 
not  the  friend  of  Apollo?  It  is  said  that  the  great 
god  of  sports  has  visited  and  played  games  with 
Hyacinthus  ever  since  the  lad  was  able  to  swing  a 
javelin.  He  comes  to  him  in  the  form  of  a  youth 
like  himself  because  he  loves  him  so,  and  they  run 
races  and  have  contests  of  skill  here  on  Parnassus, 
and  roam  the  groves  together.  How  great  an 
honor  to  have  a  god  for  one's  friend  1"  the  boy  said 
wistfully.. 

But  both  boys  stepped  back  then  and  watched 
breathlessly  as  four  war  chariots,  driven  abreast, 
approached.  The  horses  sweated  and  foamed,  the 
drivers  stood  up  perilously,  shouting  and  gripping 
the  reins  as  the  chariots  tipped  and  crashed  along  the 
course.  Two  chariots  locked  wheels  and  the  drivers 
fell  beneath  the  terrified,  stamping  steeds,  but  no 


192  WONDER  STORIES 

one  heeded  them  as  the  other  two  rolled  and 
swayed  past  them,  and  one  reached  the  goal 
heralded  by  a  shout  the  crowd  sent  up  as  if 
from  one  giant  throat. 

"Now,  the  discus  combat!"  the  boy  who  had 
spoken  before  said,  as  a  slender  youth  in  a  robe 
of  Tyrian  dyes  stepped  proudly  into  the  centre  of 
the  field  holding  the  flat,  round  discus  in  his  hand. 

"Hyacinthus,  by  my  word!"  the  second  lad  ex- 
claimed, "but  who  is  that  beside  him?"  he  asked, 
as  another  youth,  dark  eyed,  straight  limbed,  and 
with  a  countenance  that  shone  like  fire  appeared, 
as  if  he  had  dropped  from  the  clouds,  and  took  his 
place  beside  Hyacinthus. 

"It  is  Apollo  himself  in  the  guise  of  a  youth!" 
the  awed  whisper  ran  through  the  crowd.  "He  has 
come  to  guide  the  discus  that  his  friend  Hyacinthus 
carries  straight  to  the  mark." 

That  was  the  wonder  that  had  happened.  Those 
who  had  far-seeing  eyes  could  discern  in  the  strange 
youth  on  the  game  field  the  god  Apollo,  his  crown 
of  light  showing  in  bright  rays  about  his  head.  No 
one  spoke.  All  faces  were  turned  toward  the  two 
as  Apollo  grasped  the  discus,  raised  it  far  above 


WONDER  STORIES  193 

his  head,  and  with  a  strange  power  mingled  with 
skill  sent  it  high  and  far. 

Hyacinthus  watched  the  discus  cut  through  the 
air  as  straight  as  an  arrow  shot  from  a  bow.  He 
was  perfectly  sure  that  it  would  skim,  without 
turning,  as  far  as  the  goal  at  the  opposite  end 
of  the  field  and  perhaps  farther,  for  he  had  great 
faith  in  this  heavenly  youth  who  had  been  his 
companion  in  so  many  good  times.  As  swiftly  as 
the  discus  traveled,  did  Hyacinthus'  thoughts 
wing  their  memories  of  Apollo's  friendship.  He 
had  accompanied  Hyacinthus  in  his  tramps  through 
the  forest,  carried  the  nets  when  he  went  fishing, 
led  his  dogs  to  the  chase  and  even  neglected  his 
lyre  for  their  excursions  up  to  the  top  of  Parnassus. 

"I  will  run  ahead  and  bring  back  the  discus," 
Hyacinthus  thought,  and  excited  by  the  sport 
and  the  crowds,  he  leaped  forward  to  follow  the 
flight  of  the  swift  stone. 

At  that  instant  the  discus,  turned  from  its  course 
by  Zephyrous,  the  wind-god,  who  also  loved  Hya- 
cinthus and  was  jealous  of  Apollo's  affection  for 
him,  struck  the  earth  and  bounded  back,  hitting 
Hyacinthus'  forehead. 


194  WONDER  STORIES 

Apollo,  as  pale  as  the  fallen  Hyacinthus,  ran 
to  his  side,  raised  him,  and  tried  with  all  his  art 
to  stop  the  bleeding  of  his  wound  and  save  his  life. 
But  the  youth's  hurt  was  beyond  the  power  of  all 
healing.  As  a  white  lily,  when  one  has  broken  it, 
hangs  its  head  in  the  garden  and  turns  toward 
the  earth,  so  the  head  of  the  dying  Hyacinthus, 
too  heavy  for  his  neck,  lay  upon  his  shoulders. 

"I  have  killed  you,  my  dearest  friend,"  Apollo 
cried,  as  the  people  pushed  closer  to  see  the  trag- 
edy and  then  turned  their  faces  away  from  this 
grief  of  a  god  which  was  greater  than  a  mortal 
could  feel.  "I  have  robbed  you  of  your  youth. 
Yours  was  the  suffering  and  mine  the  crime.  I 
would  that  I  were  able  to  mingle  my  blood  with 
yours  which  is  spilled  here  for  me."  Then  Apollo 
was  silent,  looking  at  the  ground  where  Hyacinthus* 
blood  had  stained  the  grass,  for  a  wonder  was 
happening. 

The  crimson  stain  on  the  leaves  changed  to 
royal  purple,  and  the  stem  and  foliage  and  petals 
of  a  new  flower  appeared,  so  sweetly  fragrant 
that  it  filled  the  whole  field  with  its  perfume. 
There  had  never  been  so  beautiful  a  blossom  as 


WONDER  STORIES  195 

this.  Touching  its  wax-like  flowers,  Apollo  knew 
that  the  gods  had  comforted  him  in  his  sorrow. 
His  friend  would  live  always  in  the  flower  that 
had  sprung  where  he  fell  on  Parnassus,  our  hya- 
cinth, the  promise  of  the  spring. 


HOW  KING  MIDAS  LOST  HIS  EARS. 

They  needed  a  new  king  in  the  country  of  Phry- 
gia  in  Asia  and  there  was  an  old  saying  at  the  court 
that  some  day  they  would  have  a  ruler  who  arrived 
at  the  palace  in  a  farm  wagon. 

No  one  had  thought  very  much  about  this  proph- 
ecy but,  to  the  surprise  of  all,  a  peasant  and 
his  wife  drove  into  the  public  square  one  day  in  an 
ox  cart,  bringing  their  son,  Midas,  on  the  seat 
between  them.  The  peasant's  name  was  Gordius, 
and  he  dismounted,  tying  his  wagon  in  such  a 
hard  knot  that  it  looked  as  if  he  intended  that  the 
team  should  stay  there.  In  fact  it  was  called  the 
Gordian  knot  and  it  was  so  hard  a  knot  that  it  was 
reported  that  he  who  was  able  to  untie  it  would 
be  the  ruler  of  all  Asia. 

The  wagon  remained  there,  just  outside  the  pal- 
ace gates,  securely  fastened,  and  Gordius  and  his 
wife  walked  home  leaving  Midas.  It  was  so  ex- 
actly an  interpretation  of  the  prophecy  that  Midas 
was  made  king  and  put  upon  the  throne  of  Phrygia. 
196 


WONDER  STORIES  197 

He  had  every  opportunity  of  being  a  ruler  of 
parts,  for  his  humble  birth  would  not  have  inter- 
fered at  all,  but  Midas,  from  the  very  beginning  of 
his  reign,  used  his  power  to  satisfy  his  own  wishes 
instead  of  carrying  out  the  will  of  the  people. 

Bacchus,  with  vine  leaves  twisted  about  his  curl- 
ing locks  and  a  goblet  of  the  purple  juice  of  the 
grape  always  in  his  hand,  was  the  god  of  the  vine- 
yards. King  Midas  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Bacchus,  who  was  a  friendly,  peaceful  god  and 
fond  of  human  companionship.  And  Bacchus  un- 
expectedly offered  Midas  his  choice  of  any  wish 
that  he  cherished. 

What  did  King  Midas  ask  but  that  whatever  he 
touched  might  be  turned  to  gold! 

He  hardly  believed  that  Bacchus  would  be  able 
to  grant  the  gift  of  such  greedy  power  as  this,  and 
Bacchus  wished  that  Midas  had  made  a  better 
choice.  The  god  consented,  though,  and  King 
Midas  hurried  off  to  test  his  gift  alone  so  that  he 
need  not  share  it  with  anyone.  He  could  not 
believe  his  eyes  when  he  discovered  that  the  twig 
of  an  oak,  which  he  pulled  from  a  branch,  turned 
in  his  fingers  to  a  bar  of  solid  gold.  He  picked  up 


198  WONDER  STORIES 

a  stone;  it  turned  to  a  gold  nugget.  He  touched 
a  piece  of  sod;  it  became  a  mass  of  gold  dust, 
thick  and  heavy.  He  snatched  an  apple  from 
an  orchard  tree;  it  was  as  if  he  had  robbed  the 
gardens  of  Hesperides  of  one  of  their  apples  of 
gold.  King  Midas'  joy  knew  no  bounds.  He 
hurried  home  and  ordered  his  servants  to  prepare 
and  serve  a  most  costly  and  elaborate  feast  for 
him  in  celebration  of  his  new  found  gift  of  gold. 

He  was  hungry  and  could  scarcely  wait  to  eat; 
he  almost  snatched  a  piece  of  white  bread  to  begin 
his  meal.  What  was  King  Midas'  surprise  to 
see  the  bread  harden  into  a  slab  of  yellow  metal 
in  his  hands.  He  lifted  a  goblet  of  creamy  milk 
to  his  lips  and  it  congealed  into  a  thick,  molten 
liquid  of  gold.  It  was  so  with  whatever  King 
Midas  tried  to  eat;  fowls,  fruit,  cakes,  all  were 
changed  to  gold  before  he  had  a  chance  to  even 
touch  the  food  with  his  lips.  He  was  faced  in 
the  midst  of  all  his  wealth  with  death  by  starva- 
tion. 

Raising  his  arms,  shining  with  gold,  in  suppli- 
cation to  Bacchus,  Midas  begged  that  he  might  be 
saved  from  his  own  power  of  glittering  destruction. 


WONDER  STORIES  199 

Although  the  gods  were  able  to  grant  gifts,  it 
was  not  possible  for  Bacchus  to  relieve  a  man 
from  the  dangers  of  his  own  use  of  a  godly  gift 
unless  he,  himself,  helped.  Bacchus  was  too  kind 
hearted,  however,  to  leave  the  foolish  king  to  his 
fate  so  he  consented  to  show  him  a  way  out  of  his 
dilemma. 

"Go,"  he  told  Midas,  "to  the  River  Pactolus. 
Follow  its  winding  course  to  the  fountain  head 
and  then  plunge  your  body  and  head  in  its 
waters  to  wash  away  your  greed  and  its  pun- 
ishment." 

It  was  a  long  and  difficult  journey  for  King 
Midas  whose  joints,  even,  creaked  and  were  stiff 
with  the  golden  metal  into  which  they  had  changed, 
and  who  could  find  no  food  or  any  bed  on  the 
way  that  was  not  at  once  transformed  to  gold  the 
instant  he  touched  it.  He  was  obliged  to  flee  and 
hide  from  robbers  who  pursued  this  fugitive  form 
of  gold.  At  last,  however,  he  came  to  the  river, 
immersed  himself  in  it,  and  had  the  relief  of  feel- 
ing his  stiff,  glittering  body  soften  to  its  natural 
flesh  again. 

"I  have  had  enough  of  the  power  of  gold,"  Midas 


200  WONDER  STORIES 

said  when  he  returned  to  his  court.  "From  this 
time  I  shall  avoid  all  riches  and  live  in  the  country." 

So  King  Midas  acquired  a  farm  and  took  his 
court  there,  becoming  a  worshipper  of  Pan,  the 
goat-footed  god  of  the  fields. 

The  god  Pan  was  the  merriest  and  almost  the 
best  beloved  of  all  the  gods,  for  his  domain  was 
the  whole  of  the  beautiful,  wide  outdoors.  He 
was  a  wanderer  of  the  mountains  and  valleys 
through  all  the  seasons,  peering  into  the  grottos 
where  the  shepherds  lived,  amusing  himself  by 
chasing  the  nymphs,  and  bringing  laughter  and 
merriment  wherever  he  went.  The  stump  of  a 
tree  with  its  shaggy  roots  was  Pan's  pillow  and  the 
dusky  leaves  his  only  shelter. 

No  one  on  the  earth  was  safe  from  the  wiles  of 
Pan.  One  summer  day  Diana,  the  huntress,  was 
roaming  through  a  forest  when  she  heard  a  rustle 
of  leaves  in  the  path  behind  her.  Turning,  she 
saw  the  dark,  mocking  face  of  Pan  and  his  horned 
head  and  hairy  body.  Diana  fled  and  Pan  fol- 
lowed. 

Pan  must  have  known  it  was  a  goddess  whom 
he  pursued,  for  Diana's  hunting  horn  and  her 


WONDER  STORIES  201 

bow  were  of  silver  like  the  moon  whose  deity  she 
was,  but  this  did  not  stop  him.  On  he  went  as 
Diana  ran  in  terror  from  him  until  they  came  to 
the  bank  of  a  river.  Here  Pan  overtook  her  and 
Diana  had  only  time  to  call  to  her  friends,  the 
water-nymphs,  for  aid  when  the  god  clasped  her 
in  his  arms. 

But  it  was  not  Diana  he  had  caught.  He  held 
a  tuft  of  dripping  water  reeds  in  his  hands  through 
which  the  nymphs  had  allowed  the  goddess  to  es- 
cape. Pan  held  up  the  reeds  and  breathed  a  sigh 
through  them  because  of  the  failure  of  his  prank. 
The  reeds  gave  out  a  lovely  melody.  Pan  was 
charmed  with  the  novelty  and  the  sweetness  of 
the  music.  He  took  some  of  the  reeds  of  unequal 
lengths  and,  placing  them  side  by  side,  he  bound 
them  together.  So  he  made  his  pipes  on  which 
he  learned  to  play  tunes  like  the  singing  of  birds 
and  the  babbling  of  brooks. 

King  Midas  enjoyed  his  life  in  the  country, 
and  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  god  Pan 
as  he  had  that  of  Bacchus.  He  encouraged  Pan 
in  his  tricks  and  flattered  him  by  telling  him  how 
well  he  played  his  pipes. 


202  WONDER  STORIES 

"If  you  think  me  skilful,  King  Midas,  it  is  pos- 
sible that  I  may  challenge  Apollo  in  a  contest  of 
musical  skill,"  Pan  boasted. 

"It  would  be  an  excellent  idea,"  King  Midas 
replied. 

Midas  should  have  known  better  and  so  should 
the  frolicsome,  reckless  Pan.  Apollo's  lute  was 
the  musical  instrument  of  the  heavens  and  Pan's 
pipes  could  play  only  the  tunes  of  earth,  but  Pan 
sent  for  Apollo  and  the  god  of  light  and  song  de- 
scended to  a  green  field  where  the  contest  was 
to  be  held.  Tmolus,  the  mountain  god,  was 
chosen  to  be  the  judge  and  at  a  signal  Pan  played 
the  rustic  melody  on  his  pipes  which  was  all  he 
knew,  and  which  greatly  pleased  King  Midas  who 
sat  near  to  listen. 

Then  Apollo  rose,  crowned  with  laurel  and  wear- 
ing a  robe  of  Tyrian  purple  that  swept  the  ground. 
He  struck  the  strings  of  his  lyre  and  earth  was 
filled  with  the  music  of  the  gods.  The  mountain- 
god  swept  away  the  trees  that  surrounded  him  so 
that  he  could  listen  better,  and  the  trees  them- 
selves leaned  toward  Apollo  in  wonder  and  homage. 
When  the  music  stopped,  the  strings  still  vibrated 


WONDER  STORIES  203 

making  the  hills  carry  and  echo  the  harmony  to 
the  skies.  The  mountain-god  awarded  the  vic- 
tory in  the  unequal  contest  to  Apollo,  but  King 
Midas  objected. 

"I  like  better  the  music  of  Pan's  pipes,"  he 
said.  "I  question  the  judgment  of  Tmolus." 

Poor  old  Midas,  still  self  centered  and  earthly! 
Apollo  could  not  suffer  such  a  depraved  pair  of 
ears  to  wear  human  form  any  longer.  He  touched 
Midas'  ears  and  they  began  to  lengthen,  to  move 
where  they  joined  his  head,  and  they  grew  heavy 
inside  and  outside.  Midas  had  the  ears  of  an  ass! 

Such  a  mortification  for  a  king  to  have  to  bear! 
Indeed  King  Midas  could  not  stand  it  alone,  and 
he  told  the  secret  of  his  odd  ears  to  the  court 
hair-dresser  in  order  to  get  his  help  in  dis- 
guising them. 

"But  on  pain  of  death  do  not  tell  anyone  about 
my  ears!"  Midas  commanded. 

The  hairdresser  cut  the  King's  hair  so  as  to 
cover  up  the  flopping  ass's  ears  and  he  even  fash- 
ioned a  large  turban  to  further  conceal  them,  but 
he  couldn't  keep  such  a  good  secret.  He  went 
out  into  a  meadow,  dug  a  hole  in  the  ground,  and 


204  WONDER  STORIES 

stooping  down,  whispered  the  secret  into  it.    Then 
he  carefully  covered  it  up. 

In  a  very  short  time  a  thick  bed  of  reeds  sprang 
up  in  the  meadow  in  the  exact  spot  where  the 
hairdresser  had  buried  the  secret  of  King  Midas' 
disgrace.  As  soon  as  the  reeds  had  grown  high 
enough  to  be  played  upon  by  the  breezes  they 
began  to  whisper  the  story  of  the  king  who  had  to 
finish  his  reign  with  a  pair  of  asses'  ears  instead 
of  his  own,  because  of  his  self  will.  And  it  is  said 
that  the  meadow  reeds,  blown  by  the  wind,  tell 
the  story  of  King  Midas  to-day. 


HOW  MERCURY  GAVE  UP  HIS  TRICKS. 

Apollo  was  in  great  trouble,  for  he  had  lost 
one  of  the  herds  of  cattle  he  owned  upon  the  earth. 
He  knew  the  exact  spot  where  he  had  left  them  the 
night  before  in  a  pasture  of  Arcadia,  but  when  he 
rode  out  the  next  morning  in  his  chariot  of  light 
with  the  first  dawning  of  the  day,  the  herd  had 
disappeared.  He  searched  the  country  for  leagues 
about,  but  was  unable  to  find  a  single  trace  of 
the  cows.  There  was  not  even  one  hoof  print 
to  tell  where  they  had  gone. 

As  Apollo  searched,  he  met  a  farmer  of  that 
country  named  Battus,  whose  eyes  were  fairly 
popping  out  of  his  head  with  wonder. 

"Have  you  seen  a  straying  herd  of  cattle  in 
these  parts,  rustic?"  Apollo  asked  him.  "I  have 
lost  my  best  herd,  and  can  find  trace  of  neither 
hoof  or  hide  of  one  of  them." 

"I  saw  strange  doings  last  evening  with  a  herd,*' 
Battus  replied.  "The  night  was  dark  and  cloudy, 
and  I  went  out  to  see  if  my  flock  of  sheep  was 
205 


206  WONDER  STORIES 

safely  fastened  in  the  fold.  What  I  saw  was 
like  one  of  the  tricks  that  Pan  and  his  family  of 
Satyrs  plays,  but  I  doubt  if  even  they  have  such 
witching  powers.  I  do  believe  that  I  must  have 
dreamed  it." 

"Tell  me  what  you  saw  with  no  further  words," 
Apollo  commanded  the  farmer  impatiently. 

"It  was  in  the  middle  of  the  night,"  Battus 
explained.  "As  I  passed  a  field  where  a  fine  herd 
of  cattle  was  at  rest  I  saw  a  child  coming  as  swiftly 
and  as  surely  over  the  grass  as  if  he  had  wings. 
Once  in  a  while  he  stopped  and  gathered  a  hand- 
ful of  broom  straw,  sorting  it  into  bunches  and 
tying  it  with  dried  grass.  Presently  the  child 
came  to  the  herd,  and  he  tied  a  bunch  of  straw  to 
the  hoof  of  each  cow.  Then  he  drove  the  entire 
herd  backward  toward  the  cave  of  Pylos  that  you 
know  is  but  a  short  distance  from  here.  I  fol- 
lowed him  for  part  of  the  way,  but  I  lost  them,  for 
the  child  went  with  the  speed  of  the  wind.  I 
could  not  find  their  trail  again,  because  they  left 
not  a  single  foot  print.  The  brooms  on  their 
hoofs  swept  their  track  clean." 

"A  trick  played  on  me,  of  the  circle  of  the  gods!" 


WONDER  STORIES  207 

Apollo  exclaimed,  his  eyes  dark  with  anger  and 
the  rays  of  light  he  wore  about  his  head  sending 
off  sparks  of  fire.  And  without  so  much  as  thank- 
ing Battus  for  his  information,  Apollo  drove  with 
the  swiftness  of  lightning  to  the  cave  of  Pylos. 
There  was  his  herd  feeding  peacefully  outside, 
and  as  Apollo  forced  his  way  into  the  cave,  he 
saw  the  mischievous  little  boy  who  had  been  the 
cause  of  all  the  trouble. 

He  was  still  fast  asleep  and  he  was  quite  alone, 
for  he  had  been  born  in  that  cave  and  knew  no 
other  home.  Apollo  shook  him,  and  he  opened  a 
pair  of  the  brightest,  most  roguish  eyes  that  ever 
were  seen  in  the  earth  or  on  Mount  Olympus  either. 
But  when  he  spied  Apollo,  he  closed  them  again, 
pretending  that  he  was  asleep,  for,  like  most  people 
who  use  their  clever  wits  to  make  trouble  for  others, 
he  didn't  want  to  be  found  out.  It  was  Mercury, 
and  he  had  begun  as  early  as  this  to  play  tricks  on 
even  the  gods. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  driving  away  the  herds 
of  Arcadia  to  this  lonely  spot?"  Apollo  asked  Mer- 
cury angrily.  "Do  you  not  know  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country  depend  on  them  for  food 


208  WONDER  STORIES 

and  that  the  gods,  descending  to  earth,  have  need 
of  cream  and  curds?" 

But  Mercury  said  not  a  word.  He  only  shrugged 
his  small  shoulders  and  squeezed  his  eyes  more 
tightly  shut. 

"Well,  you  shall  be  punished  as  you  deserve," 
Apollo  said,  quite  losing  his  patience,  and  he  picked 
up  Mercury,  not  very  gently,  and  dropped  him 
into  his  chariot.  Then  he  drove  off  with  him  as 
fast  as  he  could  straight  up  to  the  throne  of  Jupiter, 
the  king  of  the  gods,  on  Mount  Olympus. 

It  must  have  been  quite  an  ordeal,  particularly 
for  a  little  boy  like  Mercury.  Jupiter's  throne 
was  very  high  and  quite  blinded  his  eyes  with 
its  flashing  gold  and  precious  stones,  and  there 
were  piles  of  thunderbolts  close  by  all  ready  to 
throw  if  the  need  arose.  And  Jupiter  himself 
wore  a  very  dark  frown  when  Apollo  told  him 
of  the  trick  that  Mercury  had  played. 

"He  shall  be  thrown — "  Jupiter  began,  having 
in  mind  the  punishment  of  denying  Mercury  the 
fellowship  of  the  gods,  but  just  then  Mercury 
looked  the  king  of  the  gods  straight  in  the  eyes, 
and  Jupiter  looked  back.  Then  Jupiter  started, 


WONDER  STORIES  209 

for  he  saw  that  Mercury  was,  himself,  a  god.  He 
might  be,  just  then,  a  very  naughty  and  young  god, 
but  it  seemed  as  if  he  could  do  great  deeds  if  only 
he  were  to  make  up  his  mind  to.  Jupiter  called 
Mercury  close  to  his  throne  and  spoke  to  him. 

"I,  myself,  have  lost  a  cow,"  he  told  Mercury. 
"In  fact  she  is  not  really  a  cow  at  all,  but  a  beauti- 
ful maiden  named  lo,  in  disguise,  and  I  under- 
stand that  she  lives  upon  the  earth  guarded  by  a 
watchman  named  Argus  who  has  a  hundred  eyes. 
I  should  like  to  rescue  the  lovely  lo  and  restore 
her  to  her  proper  form,  but  Argus  never  closes  all 
of  his  eyes  at  once.  He  sleeps  with  as  many  as 
fifty  of  them  open.  Could  you  help  me  in  this 
matter,  do  you  suppose?" 

Mercury  stood  up  very  straight  as  he  said, 

"I  will  try." 

"You  may  need  help,  lad,"  Apollo  said,  for- 
getting his  anger  in  his  interest  at  this  great  ad- 
venture Mercury  was  going  to  attempt.  "Take 
these,"  and  he  gave  the  young  god  some  very 
useful  presents,  a  golden  divining  rod  made  in  a 
design  of  two  twined  serpents,  and  a  pair  of  wings 
for  his  feet  and  a  pair  also  for  his  cap. 


210  WONDER  STORIES 

As  Mercury  took  the  golden  rod  in  his  hand  and 
fastened  on  his  wings,  he  suddenly  grew  very  tall 
and  of  almost  the  stature  and  pattern  of  the  gods. 
He  was  their  messenger  now,  and  he  knew  that 
he  had  quicker  wits  and  more  shrewdness  than 
any  of  them.  He  set  out  at  once  for  the  green 
fields  of  Arcadia  where  lo  was  pastured. 

And  there  was  old  Argus  guarding  her  with  all 
his  hundred  eyes.  He  let  the  little  heifer  feed 
during  the  day,  but  when  night  came  he  tied  a 
rough  rope  around  her  neck.  She  longed  to  stretch 
out  her  arms  and  implore  freedom  of  Argus,  but 
she  had  no  arms  to  stretch  and  her  voice  was  only 
a  loud  bellow  that  frightened  even  herself.  Her 
father  and  her  brothers  fed  her  tufts  of  grass  but 
did  not  know  who  she  was.  No  wonder  Mercury 
made  haste  to  come  to  lo's  help,  laying  aside  his 
wings  when  he  reached  Argus  and  keeping  only 
his  wand.  On  the  way  he  borrowed  the  pipes  of 
Pan  and  brought  a  flock  of  sheep  so  that  he  ap- 
peared before  Argus  as  only  a  wandering  shepherd. 

Argus  listened  to  the  music  of  the  pipes  with 
the  greatest  delight,  for  he  had  never  heard  them 
before.  He  called  to  Mercury  as  he  strolled  along. 


WONDER  STORIES  211 

"Come  and  take  a  seat  by  me  on  this  stone,"  he 
begged.  There  is  no  better  grazing  ground  in  all 
Arcadia  than  this." 

So  Mercury  sat  down  beside  Argus  and  played 
to  him  as  long  as  he  wished,  and  then  he  told  him 
stories  all  the  rest  of  the  day  until  the  sun  had 
set  and  it  was  starlight  and  lo  still  grazed  nearby 
without  being  tied.  As  the  night  wore  on  and 
Mercury  stili  soothed  Argus  with  his  music  and 
his  tales,  one  by  one  his  hundred  eyes  closed.  At 
the  first  streak  of  dawn,  the  last  eye  was  shut, 
and  Mercury  led  lo  away  to  Jupiter  to  be  restored 
to  her  proper  shape.  He  did  something  else  too. 
He  gave  Juno  all  of  Argus'  eyes  as  a  present,  which 
pleased  her  so  much  that  she  put  them  for  orna- 
ments in  the  tail  of  her  peacock.  You  may  see 
them  there  to-day. 

So  Mercury  was  safe  in  the  good  graces  of 
the  gods.  They  began  giving  him  unusual  things 
to  do,  such  as  taking  Pandora  and  her  enchanted 
box  down  to  the  earth,  carrying  new  suits  of  armor 
to  the  heroes,  and  taking  off  the  chains  which  Mars, 
the  clumsy  god  of  war,  had  made  for  his  own  uses 
but  had  become  bound  with  himself.  These  com- 


212  WONDER  STORIES 

missions  were  little  more  than  fun  for  Mercury, 
and  they  made  him  feel  so  important  that  he  be- 
gan playing  tricks  again. 

Almost  all  the  gods  had  their  own  particular 
treasures  which  were,  in  a  way,  the  marks  of  their 
authority  and  power.  They  grew  to  depend  on 
these  and  to  feel  that  they  could  not  carry  on 
their  good  works  without  them.  And  what  did 
that  rascal,  Mercury,  do  but  take  Venus'  jewelled 
girdle,  Jupiter's  sceptre,  Mars'  best  sword,  Vul- 
can's tongs,  and  Neptune's  trident,  and  either 
hide  them  or  try  to  make  use  of  them  himself  for 
a  while.  Then  he  would  manage  to  make  up  in 
some  way  for  his  mischief  and  smooth  the  whole 
matter  over.  It  caused  a  great  deal  of  anxiety 
and  inconvenience  among  the  gods  and  at  last 
they  sent  Mercury  down  to  earth  once  more  to 
act  as  a  guide  to  the  heroes  when  they  undertook 
dangerous  adventures. 

So  Mercury  took  his  winged  way  from  one  end 
of  the  world  to  the  other.  Whenever  there  was  a 
hazard  where  skill  and  dexterity  were  needed  as 
greatly  as  courage,  Mercury  was  there.  His  jour- 
neys took  him  to  the  islands  of  Greece  and  to 


WONDER  STORIES  213 

many  foreign  lands,  and  in  these  travels  he  never 
lost  a  chance  to  direct  travellers  and  strangers 
who  had  lost  their  way. 

Mercury  was  so  busy  that  he  forgot  to  play 
tricks  on  either  the  gods  or  men,  and  after  a  while 
he  was  accepted  as  a  member  in  good  standing  of 
the  family  of  the  gods.  The  people  of  Greece  had 
reason  to  worship  Mercury  because  of  something 
very  helpful  that  he  did  for  them. 

There  was  a  place  in  Greece  where  several  roads 
met.  It  was  really  such  a  place  as  is  known  as 
the  cross-roads  now,  and  dangerous.  A  traveller 
on  foot  was  not  able  to  see  the  approach  of  a  swiftly 
driven  chariot,  and  a  stranger  might  easily  lose  his 
his  way,  for  the  roads  were  not  marked.  Mercury 
set  up  the  first  sign  post  here  at  the  cross-roads  with 
plain  directions  telling  where  each  one  of  the  roads 
led. 

The  Greeks  placed  sign  posts  in  honor  of  Mer- 
cury at  every  crossing  of  the  roads  after  that,  much 
more  beautiful  than  ours  because  they  were  made 
in  the  form  of  marble  pillars  with  a  head  of  Mer- 
cury in  his  winged  cap  at  the  top.  Every  man 
who  came  to  one  of  these  first  sign  posts  was  asked 


214  WONDER  STORIES 

to  place  a  stone  beside  it  as  an  offering  to  Mercury. 
The  stones  were  greatly  appreciated  by  this  god  of 
speed,  for  they  helped  in  clearing  the  fields  and 
making  the  roads  easier  to  travel.  Commerce  and 
business  were  beginning.  Loads  of  timber  and 
grain  and  wool  and  fruits  were  carried  in  huge  ox 
carts  to  the  sea  to  be  loaded  in  ships,  and  Mercury 
wanted  good  roads  as  a  help  to  commerce. 

Mercury  turned  out  very  well  indeed,  in  spite  of 
his  bad  beginning.  It  had  depended  upon  how  he 
used  his  wits,  whether  or  not  he  helped  the  world 
or  hindered  it. 


A    LITTLE    ERRAND   GIRL'S    NEW    DRESS 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  child  of  the  gods 
named  Iris  who  had  many  very  interesting  rela- 
tives. On  her  mother's  side  was  the  Pleiades 
family,  daughters  of  old  Atlas  who  held  the  earth 
on  his  shoulders  and  nymphs  in  the  train  of  Diana, 
the  huntress.  Diana  was  to  be  seen  in  the  silvery 
moon  of  the  night  sky,  and  the  Pleiades  surrounded 
her  there,  seven  shining  stars. 

Iris  had  a  most  distinguished  grandfather, 
Oceanus,  the  sea  god.  So  she  spent  part  of  her  time 
in  the  sky  with  the  Pleiades  and  part  in  the  ocean 
with  her  grandfather.  It  was  very  interesting 
to  be  in  either  place,  for  she  loved  the  bright 
lights  of  the  heavens,  and  the  coral  palaces  of  the 
sea  made  delightful  places  to  explore. 

All  of  her  family  loved  Iris,  and  it  is  surprising 
that  she  was  not  spoiled  with  the  amount  of  free- 
dom she  had,  going  here  and  there  between  earth 
and  sky  without  any  one  saying  no  to  her.  But 
Iris  had  been  well  brought  up,  and  she  began  when 

215 


216  WONDER  STORIES 

she  was  still  quite  small  making  herself  just  as 
useful  as  she  possibly  could. 

At  that  time  another  child  of  the  gods,  Pros- 
erpine, had  made  a  great  deal  of  trouble  by  stray- 
ing away  from  home  and  being  kidnapped  by 
Pluto.  Her  mother  Ceres,  the  goddess  of  the 
fields,  had  to  neglect  her  work  for  a  long  time  as 
she  searched  for  Proserpine,  and  the  earth  grew 
dry  and  barren  in  her  absence.  As  Iris  took  her 
way  from  the  sky  to  the  sea  and  then  back  again, 
she  felt  sorry  for  the  grain,  the  fruits  and  the  flowers 
that  were  withering,  and  she  did  wish  that  she 
might  help  them. 

One  summer  day  Iris  was  paying  a  visit  to 
Oceanus,  her  grandfather,  and  having  a  most  beau- 
tiful time  riding  the  crest  of  the  waves  on  a  frolic- 
some dolphin.  The  sea  was  covered  with  soft, 
light  vapor  and  when  it  was  time  for  Iris  to  go  home 
to  the  sky  in  order  to  be  there  in  time  to  help  light 
the  lamps  of  the  Pleiades,  she  wrapped  herself 
all  about  with  this  fleecy  vapor.  Still  wearing  it 
like  a  cloak,  Iris  reached  the  sky  when  a  most 
unusual  thing  happened.  It  was  so  cool  up  there 
among  the  clouds  that  the  sea  foam  turned  to  rain- 


WONDER  STORIES  217 

drops.  Iris  had  to  hurry  away  or  she  would  have 
been  wet  through.  Leaning  over  the  edge  of 
a  cloud  bank  to  see  what  was  happening,  she  dis- 
covered that  a  shower  of  rain  was  falling  to  cool 
the  earth  and  comfort  it  a  little  in  its  condition  of 
drought. 

Iris  could  travel  with  the  speed  of  the  wind 
from  one  end  of  the  world  to  the  other,  and  after 
that  she  busied  herself  searching  for  thirsty  plants 
and  trying  to  help  them.  She  would  descend  to 
the  ocean,  a  lake  or  a  river,  wherever  she  might 
be,  and  carry  vapor  that  was  full  of  water  to  the 
sky  from  which  it  dropped  to  earth  to  nourish  all 
growing  things.  The  farmers  looked  upon  Iris 
as  their  most  important  help,  and  at  last  the  news 
of  her  good  works  came  to  the  ears  of  the  gods  on 
Olympus. 

The  gods  had  one  messenger,  Mercury,  who  wore 
wings  on  his  heels  and  also  on  his  cap.  He  was 
so  swift  that  he  was  detailed  to  carry  out  the  most 
difficult  and  delicate  errands  of  the  gods  such  as 
taking  new  suits  of  armor  to  the  warriors  of  Greece, 
guiding  the  heroes,  and  even  rescuing  Mars,  the 
god  of  war,  when  he  once  found  himself  bound 


218  WONDER  STORIES 

by  the  chains  he  had  designed  for  others.  But 
one  never  knew  exactly  how  Mercury  would  carry 
out  a  commission.  He  liked  to  linger  with  Pan 
in  the  woods  and  forests,  giving  as  an  excuse  the 
care  of  young  Bacchus,  god  of  the  vine,  whom 
he  must  guard. 

So  the  gods  decided  that  they  would  have  an 
errand  girl  who  would  live  on  Olympus  and  leave 
the  habitation  of  the  gods  only  when  it  was  neces- 
sary to  go  to  man  as  a  guide  and  adviser. 

That  was  the  high  trust  which  was  given  Iris  by 
the  gods.  She  had  to  use  her  own  judgment  to 
quite  an  extent  as  to  when  and  where  she  was 
most  needed  by  the  dwellers  of  the  earth,  and 
how  she  could  best  help  them.  One  day  she  no- 
ticed something  happening  in  the  kingdom  of  her 
grandfather. 

A  ship  glided  out  of  a  harbor,  the  breeze  play- 
ing among  the  ropes,  and  the  seamen  drew  in 
their  oars  and  hoisted  their  sails.  The  night  drew 
on,  the  sea  began  to  whiten  with  swelling  waves, 
and  the  east  wind  blew  a  gale.  The  captain  gave 
orders  to  strengthen  the  ship  and  reef  the  sail 
but  none  of  the  sailors  could  hear  his  voice  above 


WONDER  STORIES  219 

the  roar  of  the  wind  and  the  sea.  The  cries  of  the 
men,  the  rattling  of  the  shrouds,  and  the  breaking 
surf  mingled  with  the  thunder.  Then  the  swelling 
sea  seemed  to  be  lifted  up  to  the  heavens,  to  scatter 
its  foam  among  the  clouds,  and  then  sink  away  to 
the  bottom. 

The  ship  could  not  stand  the  storm;  it  seemed 
like  a  wild  beast  charged  upon  by  the  spears  of 
the  hunter.  There  came  a  flash  of  lightning, 
tearing  the  darkness  asunder,  and  illuminating 
all  with  its  glare.  It  shattered  the  mast  and  broke 
the  rudder,  and  the  triumphant  surge,  rising  over 
the  ship,  looked  down  on  the  wreck,  then  fell  and 
crushed  it  to  fragments.  As  the  ship  went  down, 
the  captain  cried  out  in  longing, 

"Halcyone!" 

Then  Iris,  who  could  see  beyond  and  through 
the  darkness,  had  a  vision  of  the  beautiful  Queen 
Halcyone,  of  Sicily,  who  mourned  her  shipwrecked 
husband,  the  captain  of  this  ship. 

Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  Iris  set  out  for 
the  palace  of  Somnus,  the  king  of  sleep.  It  was 
a  long  and  dangerous  journey.  Even  Apollo  did 
not  dare  to  approach  it  at  dawn,  noon,  or  even- 


220  WONDER  STORIES 

ing.  It  was  set  in  a  country  where  the  light  glim- 
mered but  faintly,  and  clouds  and  shadows  rose 
out  of  the  ground.  No  wild  beast,  or  cattle,  or 
tree  moved  by  the  wind,  or  any  sound  of  voices 
broke  the  stillness,  but  the  river  Lethe  flowed 
through  it,  rippling  with  a  low  kind  of  lullaby. 

Iris  approached  the  home  of  Somnus  very  tim- 
idly. All  the  way  there  were  fields  of  poppies 
and  the  herbs  from  which  Night  distilled  sleep  to 
scatter  over  the  darkened  earth.  There  was  no 
gate  to  the  palace  to  creak  as  it  opened,  or  any 
watchman.  So  this  little  errand  girl  of  the  gods 
went  inside  and  made  her  way  to  the  room  where 
there  was  a  throne  of  black  ebony  draped  with 
dusky  plumes  and  curtains.  On  the  throne  re- 
clined Somnus,  scarcely  opening  his  eyes,  and  with 
his  hair  and  beard  covering  him  like  a  mantle. 

Iris  knelt  before  him, 

"Somnus,  gentlest  of  the  gods,  and  soother  of 
careworn  hearts,"  she  said,  "will  you  not  allow 
me  to  despatch  a  dream  to  Halcyone  about  her 
husband  whom  she  mourns.  See  these  dreams 
that  lie  around  you,  as  many  as  the  harvest  bears 
stalks,  or  the  forest  leaves,  or  the  seashore  grains 


WONDER  STORIES  221 

of  sand!    Can  you  not  spare  one  beautiful  dream 
for  Halcyone?" 

Somnus  called  his  servant,  Morpheus,  who  se- 
lected a  dream  and  flew,  making  no  noise  with  his 
wings,  until  he  came  to  the  city  of  Trachine  where 
Halcyone  could  not  sleep,  but  lay  and  tossed  and 
wept  in  terror  at  the  thought  of  what  might  have 
happened  to  her  husband's  ship.  And  at  that 
moment  Halcyone  fell  into  a  deep  and  happy 
dream  in  which  she  saw  her  husband.  He  stood 
beside  her  couch  and  spoke  to  her. 

"The  stormy  winds  have  sunk  my  ship  in  the 
Aegean  Sea,"  he  told  Halcyone,  "let  me  not  be 
alone.  Arise  and  come  with  me!" 

It  was  the  most  enlightening  dream  that  Som- 
nus could  have  sent.  Halcyone  left  off  her  lamen- 
tations and  implored  the  gods  that  she  be  allowed 
to  join  her  husband,  and  the  pitying  gods  turned 
them  both  into  birds.  They  became  the  Hal- 
cyone gulls  of  the  sea,  riding  the  surf  together, 
guarding  their  nest  that  floated  upon  the  sea,  and 
never  again  separated. 

As  soon  as  she  felt  sure  that  her  errand  was  safely 
accomplished,  Iris  made  haste  to  leave  the  domain 


222  WONDER  STORIES 

of  Somnus,  for  she  felt  its  drowsiness  creeping  over 
her.  She  tried  not  to  crush  any  of  the  sleep  pro- 
ducing herbs  as  she  went,  and  she  was  careful  not  to 
pick  a  single  poppy.  At  last  she  was  safely  outside 
the  boundaries,  and  then  she  could  hardly  believe 
what  she  saw,  for  a  wonder  had  happened  to  her. 

The  gods  had  built  her  a  long  bridge  that  arched 
from  the  earth  to  the  sky  and  over  which  she  could 
go  home  to  Olympus.  It  was  made  of  colored 
stones,  the  ruby,  the  topaz,  the  emerald,  the  sap- 
phire, and  the  amethyst.  Row  upon  row  the 
glistening  stones  of  the  arch  made  a  bright  path 
for  Iris*  feet.  She  passed  along  it,  the  light  of  the 
brilliant  gems  scintillating  about  her,  and  when  she 
came  to  the  abode  of  the  gods,  Iris  found  another 
surprise.  There  was  a  beautiful  new  dress  wait- 
ing for  her  there. 

It  had  the  same  colors  as  those  of  the  precious 
stones  that  made  the  bridge,  crimson,  orange  and 
yellow,  green,  blue,  and  violet  and  so  marvellously 
blended  that  they  seemed  to  be  one  pattern  and  one 
piece  of  brightness.  There  were  wings  that  went 
with  the  dress,  and  when  Iris  put  it  on  not  even 
Juno  had  so  beautiful  a  garment. 


WONDER  STORIES  223 

Iris  wore  her  dress  of  colors  as  she  took  her  way 
along  her  arched  bridge  from  Olympus  to  earth 
and  then  back  again.  And  her  errands  were  those 
of  help  and  courage  and  bright  hope. 

Have  you  guessed  who  she  was?  Why,  of  course 
you  have,  for  you  see  her  bridge  of  colors  in  the 
sky  after  a  shower  when  the  sun  is  shining  through 
the  clouds.  Iris  was  the  child  of  the  gods  who 
gave  us  the  rainbow. 


WHEN.  PROSERPINE  WAS  LOST 

There  were  lilies  and  great  blue  violets  growing 
wild  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  in  the  vale  of  Enna. 
How  could  a  little  girl  resist  them,  and  particu- 
larly Prosperpine  whose  mother  was  Ceres,  the 
goddess  of  agriculture,  and  who  had  played  and 
lived  outdoors  all  her  life?  Proserpine  had  been 
racing  through  the  forest  with  some  of  her  boy 
and  girls  friends,  farther  than  was  wise. 

"Don't  go  out  of  sight  of  our  own  home  fields," 
Ceres  had  said  that  morning. 

But  here  was  Proserpine  out  of  sight  and  sound 
of  her  playmates  even.  Violets  like  to  grow  in 
damp,  dark  places,  and  Proserpine  had  followed 
their  blue  trail  until  she  was  shut  in  the  vale  of 
Enna  by  the  trees.  She  was  quite  alone  and,  sud- 
denly, in  danger. 

There  was  the  sound  of  racing  chariot  steeds  and 

the  crash  of  heavy  wheels  breaking  the  low  branches 

and  the  bushes.    A  dark  shadow  made  the  vale 

darker  than  it  had  been  before.    A  black  chariot 

224 


WONDER  STORIES  225 

burst  into  sight,  drawn  by  black  horses  and  driven 
by  a  man  who  was  dressed  in  black  from  head 
to  foot.  He  was  Pluto,  the  king  of  darkness,  who 
had  been  waiting  for  a  long  time  for  this  chance 
to  kidnap  fair  little  Proserpine.  Her  flowers  fell 
from  her  apron  in  which  she  had  been  holding 
them;  she  screamed,  but  there  was  no  one  to  hear 
her.  Pluto  dragged  her  into  his  grasp  and  threw 
her  in  the  chariot.  The  horses  dashed  away,  and 
Proserpine  left  the  land  of  springtime  for  Pluto's 
dark  kingdom  beneath  the  earth. 

Pluto  shouted  to  his  steeds,  calling  each  by  name, 
and  giving  them  the  length  of  the  iron  colored  reins 
over  their  heads  and  necks.  He  reached  the  River 
Cyane  which  had  no  bridge,  but  he  struck  the 
waters  with  his  trident  and  they  rolled  back,  giv- 
ing him  a  passage  down  through  the  earth  to  Tar- 
tarus where  his  throne  was. 

It  was  a  prison  place  that  they  reached  by  way  of 
a  deep  gulf,  and  its  recesses  were  as  far  beneath  the 
level  of  the  earth  as  Mount  Olympus  was  high 
above  their  heads.  A  strange  sound  of  singing 
came  to  Proserpine  from  the  depths  of  the  cave 
where  Pluto  led  her: 


226  WONDER  STORIES 

'Twist  ye,  twine  ye!  Even  so, 
Mingle  shades  of  joy  and  woe, 
Hope,  and  fear,  and  peace,  and  strife 
In  the  thread  of  human  life." 

And  when  Proserpine's  eyes  were  a  little  more 
used  to  the  dimness  of  the  cave  she  saw  three  gray 
women,  the  Fates,  with  threads  and  shears,  seated 
beside  the  throne  and  singing  those  words.  One 
of  them  spun  the  thread  of  life,  and  another 
twisted  its  bright  and  dark  lines  together.  But 
the  third  Fate  cut  the  threads  apart  whenever 
she  liked. 

Other  grim  and  terrible  creatures  met  Proser- 
pine's frightened  gaze.  The  Furies  had  spread 
their  couches  there  as  had  also  Fear  and  Hunger. 
The  Hydra  hissed  with  each  one  of  its  nine  heads 
and  the  Chimaeras  breathed  fire.  There  was 
a  giant  with  a  hundred  arms,  and  Discord  whose 
hair  was  bound  with  a  fillet  made  of  vipers. 

"Take  me  back  to  the  light.  I  want  to  go  home. 
Oh,  I  beg  of  you,  take  me  homel"  Proserpine  cried, 
but  her  words  only  echoed  through  the  vaults  of 
the  kingdom  of  darkness.  And  when  she  tried 
to  make  her  escape,  her  frail  little  hands  were 


WONDER  STORIES  227 

bruised  from  beating  against  the  thick  iron  door 
that  shut  her  in. 

The  next  morning  Aurora  rode  through  the  sky 
to  put  away  the  stars  and  touch  the  clouds  with 
the  pink  color  of  the  dawn.  Looking  down  to 
the  earth,  she  saw  a  goddess  who  had  arisen  long 
before  the  dawn  and  was  hurrying  up  and  down 
the  earth,  wringing  her  hands  and  with  tears  in 
her  eyes.  She  wore  a  chaplet  woven  of  the  golden 
heads  of  the  grain,  and  she  was  straight  and  strong 
and  beautiful  in  her  flowing  robes  of  green,  but 
she  did  not  lift  her  eyes  from  the  earth,  so  deep 
was  her  sorrow. 

That  evening  Hesperus,  who  followed  in  Aurora's 
course  each  sunset  to  lead  out  the  stars,  saw  the 
same  goddess.  Her  robes  were  torn  and  stained 
from  her  travels  and  bedraggled  with  the  dew. 
She  was  still  weeping,  and  still  searching.  She 
was  going  to  search,  without  rest,  all  night. 

Many  others  saw  this  goddess  in  the  days  that 
followed.  She  was  always  roaming  from  daylight 
until  dark,  in  the  open,  in  sunlight  and  moonlight, 
and  in  falling  showers.  She  was  weary  and  sad. 
In  such  a  plight  a  peasant,  named  Celeus,  found  her 


228  WONDER  STORIES 

one  day.  He  had  been  out  in  a  field  gathering 
acorns  and  blackberries,  and  binding  bundles  of 
sticks  for  his  fire.  The  goddess  sat  there  on  a 
stone,  too  tired  to  go  on. 

"Why  do  you  sit  here  alone  on  the  rocks?" 
Celeus  asked  her.  He  carried  a  heavy  load,  but  he 
stopped  to  try  and  succor  her.  "Come  to  my  cot- 
tage and  rest,"  he  entreated  her.  "My  little  son 
is  very  ill,  and  we  have  only  a  most  humble  roof, 
but  such  as  it  is  we  will  be  glad  to  share  it  with 
you." 

The  goddess  rose  and  gathered  her  arms  full 
of  crimson  poppies.  Then  she  followed  Celeus 
home. 

They  found  deep  distress  in  the  cottage,  for  the 
little  boy  was  so  ill  as  to  be  almost  past  hope. 
His  mother  could  scarcely  speak  for  her  sorrow, 
but  she  welcomed  the  wandering  goddess  and 
spread  the  table  for  her  with  curds  and  cream, 
apples,  and  golden  honey  dripping  from  the  comb. 
The  goddess  ate,  but  her  eyes  were  on  the  sick  child 
and  when  his  mother  poured  milk  into  a  goblet  for 
him  she  mingled  the  juice  of  her  poppies  with  it. 

At   last   night  came,   and  the   peasants  slept. 


WONDER  STORIES  229 

Then  the  goddess  arose  and  took  the  little  boy 
in  her  arms.  She  touched  his  weak  limbs  with 
her  strong,  skilful  hands,  said  a  charm  over  him 
three  times,  and  then  laid  him  in  the  warm  ashes 
of  the  fire. 

"Would  you  kill  my  son?  Wicked  woman  that 
you  are  to  so  abuse  my  hospitality!"  the  child's 
mother  cried,  awaking  and  seeing  what  the  god- 
dess had  done. 

But  just  then  a  strange  thing  happened.  The 
cottage  was  filled  with  a  splendor  like  white  light- 
ning, and  a  light  seemed  to  shine  from  the  skin  of 
the  goddess.  A  lovely  perfume  was  scattered 
from  her  fragrant  garments,  and  her  hair  was  as 
bright  as  gold. 

"Your  son  will  not  die,  but  live/'  she  told  the 
wife  of  Celeus.  "He  shall  grow  up  and  be  great 
and  useful.  He  shall  teach  men  the  use  of  the 
plough,  and  the  rewards  which  labor  can  win  from 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil." 

"Who  are  you?"  the  woman  asked  in  amaze- 
ment as  she  saw  the  boy's  white  cheeks  grow  rosy 
with  new  life. 

"I   am  Ceres,"  the  goddess  answered,  "whose 


230  WONDER  STORIES 

grief  is  greater  than  yours,  for  my  child  is  lost. 
I  search  the  earth  for  her,  and  never  find  her." 
With  these  words  she  was  gone,  as  if  she  had  wrapped 
herself  in  a  cloud  and  floated  away  to  meet  the 
dawning  of  another  day  of  her  journey. 

That  was  who  this  wanderer  of  the  earth  was, 
the  immortal  Ceres,  who  still  did  not  care  to  live 
without  her  loved  little  daughter,  Proserpine. 

She  was  obliged  to  neglect  her  work  of  caring 
for  the  earth  in  her  search  for  Proserpine,  and 
disaster  came  to  the  land  for  many  seasons.  The 
cattle  died  and  no  plough  broke  the  furrows.  The 
seed  failed  to  come  up.  There  was  too  much  sun 
and  too  much  rain.  The  birds  stole  the  harvest, 
little  as  there  was,  and  seeds  and  brambles  were 
the  main  growth.  Even  Arethusa,  the  nymph 
of  the  fountain,  was  about  to  die  as  Ceres,  in  her 
search,  came  to  the  banks  of  the  River  Cyane, 
where  Pluto  had  passed  with  Proserpine  to  his 
own  domain.  Ceres  had  almost  given  up  hope. 

"Ungrateful  soil  that  I  have  clothed  with  herbs 
and  fruits  and  grains,"  she  said.  "You  have 
taken  my  child  and  shall  enjoy  my  favors  no 
longer." 


WONDER  STORIES  231 

But  Arethusa  spoke: 

"Do  not  blame  the  earth,  Mother  Ceres,"  she 
said.  "It  opened  unwillingly  to  take  your  daugh- 
ter. I  come  from  the  waters.  I  know  them  so 
well  that  I  can  count  the  pebbles  in  the  bottom 
of  this  river,  the  willows  that  shade  it  and  the 
violets  on  the  bank.  I  was  at  play  not  long  since 
in  the  river  and  Alpheus,  the  god  of  the  stream, 
pursued  me.  I  ran  and  he  followed  in  an  attempt 
to  keep  me  from  going  back  to  my  home  in  the 
fountain.  As  I  tried  to  escape  him,  I  plunged 
through  the  depths  of  the  earth  and  into  a  cavern. 
While  I  passed  through  the  bowels  of  the  earth  I 
saw  your  Proserpine.  She  was  sad,  but  had  no 
look  of  terror.  Pluto  had  made  her  his  queen  in 
the  realm  of  the  dead.  I  have  made  my  way  back 
to  tell  you." 

Ceres  knew  then  that  Proserpine  was  lost  to  her 
unless  Jupiter  helped  in  taking  her  away  from 
the  king  of  darkness.  She  summoned  her  chariot 
and  rode  to  Mount  Olympus,  but  even  Jupiter 
had  not  complete  power  over  Pluto. 

"If  Proserpine  has  taken  food  in  Pluto's  realm, 
the  Fates  will  not  allow  her  to  return  to  earth,"  he 


232  WONDER  STORIES 

told  Ceres.  "But  I  will  send  my  swift  messenger, 
Mercury,  with  Spring  to  try  and  bring  her  home." 

In  all  that  time  Proserpine  had  eaten  none  of 
the  rich  food  that  Pluto  had  set  before  her,  only 
six  seeds  of  a  red  pomegranate  as  she  had  pressed 
the  fruit  to  her  lips  to  quench  her  thirst.  But 
Spring,  with  all  her  strength  that  can  bring  new 
leaves  and  blooms  from  dead  branches,  with  the 
help  of  Mercury,  the  god  of  the  winged  shoes, 
brought  Proserpine  the  long  way  back  to  her 
mother  for  six  months.  The  remaining  six  months 
of  the  year,  one  month  for  each  pomegranate  seed 
that  she  had  eaten,  Proserpine  was  doomed  to 
spend  as  queen  of  Pluto's  kingdom  of  darkness. 

No  one,  and  particularly  not  her  mother,  wor- 
ried very  much,  though,  about  those  months  of 
darkness  because  of  the  wonders  that  Proserpine 
brought  when  she  returned  to  earth.  Every  tree 
that  she  touched  with  her  garments  burst  into 
green,  and  wherever  her  feet  pressed  the  earth 
the  grass  and  wild  flowers  appeared  and  spread. 
Ploughing  and  planting  were  begun  again,  and  the 
new  shoots  of  the  corn  pushed  up  through  the 
ground. 


WONDER  STORIES  233 

Indeed,  it  seemed  to  Ceres  that  her  other  child, 
the  corn,  was  telling  the  story  of  lost  Proserpine. 
The  seed  of  the  corn  that  is  thrust  into  the  earth 
and  lies  there,  concealed  in  the  dark,  is  like  Proser- 
pine carried  off  by  the  god  of  the  underworld. 
Then  Spring  gives  the  seed  a  new  form  and  it 
appears  to  bless  the  earth,  just  as  Proserpine  was 
led  forth  to  her  mother  and  to  the  light  of  day. 


THE  PLOUGHMAN  WHO  BROUGHT 
FAMINE. 

Erisichthon  had  made  up  his  mind  to  kill  the 
Dryad  who  lived  in  the  oak  tree. 

He  was  one  of  the  strongest  ploughmen  in  all 
Greece,  and  he  knew  Ceres  who  presided  over  the 
fields  and  her  favorite  Dryad  of  the  oak  tree  very 
well.  The  oak  tree  had  stood  for  centuries  in  a 
grove  in  which  Ceres  loved  to  rest,  and  it  was 
almost  a  forest  in  itself.  It  overtopped  the  other 
trees  as  far  as  they  stretched  above  the  shrubs. 
Its  trunk  measured  fifteen  cubits  around,  and  it 
was  supported  upon  roots  that  were  almost  as 
strong  as  iron  cables. 

It  was  supposed  in  those  old  days  of  Greece  to 
be  a  tree  of  wonders.  It  was  this  oak  that  guarded 
the  wide  agricultural  domain  of  Ceres,  and  the 
Dryad  who  lived  inside  was  one  of  the  messengers 
of  this  goddess  through  the  farms  and  orchards. 
She  was  a  slender,  fair  young  creature  who  would 
never  grow  old  and  carried  sunbeams  in  her  hands 
234 


WONDER  STORIES  235 

that  brought  new  growth  wherever  she  spilled 
them. 

When  the  grove  was  empty  and  still,  all  the 
other  Dryads  would  step  softly  from  their  dwelling 
places  in  the  cypress,  the  olive  and  the  pine  trees 
and  join  hands  as  they  danced  lightly  about  the 
oak  tree,  singing  their  praises  of  the  great  Ceres 
who  fed  with  her  bounty  the  whole  of  Greece.  The 
country  people,  and  even  those  from  the  cities, 
came  to  pay  their  homage  to  Ceres'  oak,  bringing 
garlands  of  roses  and  laurel  that  they  hung  on  its 
boughs,  and  carving  messages  of  thanks  and  love 
for  the  Dryad  on  its  bark. 

Erisichthon  knew  all  this,  but  he  wanted  a  quan- 
tity of  wood  for  his  farm  without  the  trouble  of 
earning  it.  He  decided  the  property  of  Ceres  was 
his,  by  right,  because  he  had  ploughed  her  fields 
at  the  time  of  the  planting.  So  Erisichthon  saw 
no  reason  why  he  should  spare  the  wonderful  oak 
tree,  even  if  it  did  shelter  a  Dryad.  He  called 
his  servants  together,  armed  them  with  freshly 
sharpened  axes,  and  they  set  out  for  the  forest. 

When  they  reached  the  oak  tree,  Erisichthon's 
men  hesitated.  The  tree  looked  like  a  temple, 


236  WONDER  STORIES 

its  wide  spreading  branches  sheltering  the  other 
trees,  and  its  great  trunk  towering  toward  the 
sky  like  a  bronze  pillar.  Each  man  remembered 
Ceres'  bounty  toward  him,  her  gifts  of  apples  and 
corn,  grapes  and  wheat,  and  best  of  all  her  offer- 
ing of  land  that  would  bring  plenty  for  the  ploughing 
and  planting. 

"We  cannot  cut  it.  This  is  a  tree  well  beloved 
of  Ceres,"  the  men  said  to  their  master. 

"I  care  not  whether  it  be  a  tree  beloved  of  the 
goddess  or  not,"  Erisichthon  shouted  angrily  to 
them.  "If  I  cut  it  down  I  shall  have  no  more 
need  of  Ceres,  for  its  wood  will  make  me  rich  be- 
yond the  need  of  planting.  She  owes  me  a  liv- 
ing on  account  of  the  past  seasons  in  which  I  have 
worked  for  her.  If  Ceres  herself  were  in  my  way  I 
would  cut  her  down  alsol"  he  exclaimed. 

With  this  terrible  threat  on  his  lips,  the  lawless 
ploughman  seized  an  axe  from  one  of  his  trembling 
servants  and  began  chopping  the  trunk  of  the 
mighty  tree.  He  had  great  strength,  and  each 
blow  cut  a  deep  gash. 

As  Erisichthon  cut  in  toward  the  heart  of  the  oak 
tree,  that  held  the  Dryad,  the  oak  began  to  shiver 


WONDER  STORIES  237 

and  groan,  but  he  showed  it  no  mercy.  He  ordered 
his  men  to  tie  ropes  to  the  branches  and  pull,  and 
he  continued  to  cut  it  until  the  tree  fell  with  a 
crash  that  was  like  the  sound  of  a  thunderbolt, 
and  brought  down  with  it  a  great  part  of  the  forest 
that  surrounded  it. 

As  the  giant  trunk  lay  on  the  ground  at  the  feet 
of  Erisichthon,  there  was  a  sighing  of  the  branches 
like  that  of  a  summer  breeze  passing  through, 
and  the  leaves  fluttered  as  if  they  had  been  stirred 
by  the  flight  of  a  bird.  It  was  the  spirit  of  the 
Dryad  whom  Erisichthon  had  so  hurt,  taking  her 
way  to  her  family  of  the  gods  on  Mount  Olympus. 

Those  Dryads  who  were  left  in  the  grove  has- 
tened to  Ceres  with  news  of  what  had  happened. 

"This  man  must  be  punished  1"  they  cried. 

Ceres  bowed  her  head  in  assent,  and  the  fields  of 
grain  bowed  also,  and  the  branches  of  the  fruit 
trees  drooped.  It  was  the  ripe  time  of  the  har- 
vest, but  there  were  no  crops  on  the  farm  of  Erisich- 
thon, and  Ceres  decreed  that  no  neighbor  should 
share  with  him. 

In  the  northern  part  of  Greece  lay  the  ice  topped 
mountains  of  Scythia,  a  bleak,  unfertile  region 


238  WONDER  STORIES 

without  fruit  or  grain.  Cold,  and  Fear,  and  Shud- 
dering lived  there  and  one  other,  who  was  more 
to  be  dreaded  than  all  three.  This  was  Famine 
with  unkempt  hair  and  sunken  eyes,  blanched  lips, 
and  her  skin  tightly  drawn  over  her  sharp  bones. 
She  made  her  home  in  a  hard,  stony  field  where 
she  pulled  up  the  scanty  herbage  with  her  claw- 
like  fingers  and  tried  to  subsist  on  it. 

After  Erisichthon  had  cut  down  the  old  oak 
tree  Ceres  sent  to  Scythia  for  Famine. 

Erisichthon  found  that  it  was  going  to  be  a 
month's  task  to  cut  up  his  wood  and  carry  it  to 
his  farm,  so  he  went  home  to  rest  over  night, 
planning  to  start  the  work  in  the  morning.  He 
felt  hungry  after  his  hard  work  of  chopping  down 
the  tree,  but  he  had  not  even  a  pomegranate  for 
his  supper.  All  his  food  had  strangely  disappeared. 
He  decided  to  go  to  bed  and  try  to  forget  his  hunger 
in  sleep. 

"I  will  sell  a  load  of  wood  in  the  morning  for 
many  gold  coins,"  he  thought,  "and  buy  food  in 
plenty." 

So  Erisichthon  lay  down  on  his  couch  and  was 
soon  fast  asleep.  Then  Famine  sped  in  through 


WONDER  STORIES  239 

the  window  and  hovered  over  where  he  lay.  She 
folded  her  wings  around  him  and  breathed  her 
poison  into  his  veins.  Then  she  hastened  back  to 
Scythia,  for  she  had  no  other  errand  in  a  land  of 
plenty. 

Erisichthon  did  not  wake  but  he  stirred  in  his 
sleep  and  moved  his  jaws  as  if  he  were  eating, 
for  he  was  very  hungry  in  his  dreams.  In  the 
morning  he  woke  with  a  raging  hunger  that  was 
a  hundred  times  worse  than  that  of  the  day 
before. 

He  sold  his  load  of  wood  and  spent  all  the  money 
for  whatever  food  the  earth,  the  air,  and  the  sea 
produced.  He  consumed  vast  quantities  of  fish, 
fowl,  the  flesh  of  lambs,  fruit  and  vegetables;  but 
the  more  Erisichthon  ate,  the  greater  was  his 
hunger.  The  amount  of  food  that  would  have 
been  enough  for  the  whole  of  Athens  was  not  suffi- 
cient for  this  man.  He  continually  craved  more. 

Erisichthon  sold  the  wood  of  the  entire  oak 
tree,  and  began  selling  pieces  of  the  land  that 
made  his  farm  in  order  to  get  food  for  appeasing 
his  terrible  hunger.  At  last  his  fields  were  gone 
and  he  had  to  sell  his  furniture,  his  tools,  his  books, 


240  WONDER  STORIES 

and  all  his  vases.  Still  he  could  not  get  food  enough 
to  appease  his  gnawing  appetite,  so  he  sold  his 
house  and  lived  in  a  tent  that  he  set  up  beside  the 
road.  But  his  hunger  was  still  unsatisfied  and 
in  his  madness  Erisichthon  sold  his  only  daughter 
to  be  the  slave  of  a  fisherman  who  cast  his  nets 
beside  the  Aegean  Sea. 

The  girl  loved  her  father  very  dearly  and  her 
grief,  as  she  gathered  sea  weed  along  the  shore 
for  her  master,  touched  the  heart  of  Neptune, 
the  god  of  the  sea.  He  changed  her  to  the  form 
of  a  horse,  and  she  went  home  to  Erisichthon, 
hoping  that  he  would  look  upon  so  fine  an  animal 
with  favor,  and  give  it  a  home.  But  her  father 
sold  the  horse  to  a  chariot  racer.  She  escaped 
and  went  again  to  the  shore  where  Neptune  changed 
her,  in  turn,  to  a  stag,  an  ox,  and  a  rare  bird.  Each 
time  she  made  her  way  home,  and  each  time  her 
father  sold  her  to  buy  food.  So  the  bird  flew  away 
to  Mount  Olympus  and  was  never  seen  again. 

At  last  there  came  a  day  when  Erisichthon  could 
feed  himself  no  longer.  There  was  nothing  left 
to  him  in  the  world  that  he  could  sell,  and  his  hun- 
ger was  so  great  that  he  went,  like  a  raving  beast, 


WONDER  STORIES  241 

up  and  down  the  bountiful  fields  of  Ceres  demand- 
ing that  food  be  given  him. 

But  those  whom  Famine  touches  because  they 
break  Ceres'  laws,  and  destroy  life  and  property 
find  no  help  unless  they  try  to  restore  the  order 
that  they  have  hurt.  Erisichthon  was  too  weak 
to  work,  and  he  could  never  raise  another  oak  tree 
like  that  one  which  had  been  growing  for  cen- 
turies. So  he  went,  at  last,  to  live  with  Famine 
in  Scythia  which  was  a  long  way  from  the  Mount 
of  the  gods. 


THE  BEE  MAN  OF  ARCADIA. 

Strange  things  were  happening  in  a  field  of  the 
beautiful  country  called  Arcadia.  A  youth  who 
wore  a  wreath  of  green  laurel  leaves  on  his  dark 
hair  sat  on  a  rock  and  held  a  lyre  in  his  hands 
from  whose  strings  he  drew  sweet  music.  And 
as  he  played  a  wolf,  who  had  been  the  terror  of 
the  shepherds  for  many  leagues  around,  came 
out  of  the  woods  and  lay  down  like  a  great  dog 
at  the  feet  of  the  youth.  Next,  the  nearby  olive 
trees  bent  their  heads  to  listen  and  then  moved 
toward  him  until  they  stood  in  a  circle  at  his  feet. 
Then  the  hard  rock  on  which  the  musician  rested 
covered  itself  with  soft  green  verdure  and  blue- 
bells and  violets  began  to  lift  their  heads,  grow- 
ing out  of  its  age-old  stones. 

This  was  what  always  happened  when  Orpheus, 
the  son  of  Apollo,  played  the  lyre  that  his  father 
had  given  him  and  had  taught  him  to  use.  Noth- 
ing could  withstand  the  charm  of  his  music.  Not 
only  the  farmers  and  shepherds,  the  nymphs  and 
242 


WONDER  STORIES  243 

fauns  of  Arcadian  woods  and  fields  were  softened 
and  drawn  by  his  tunes,  but  the  wild  beasts  as  well 
laid  by  their  fierceness  and  stood,  entranced,  at 
his  strains. 

Orpheus  touched  his  lyre  again  and  played  an 
even  lovelier  song.  And  out  of  the  forest  glided 
the  nymph,  Eurydice,  taking  her  place  near  Or- 
pheus. His  music  had  won  her  devotion  and 
Hymen,  the  god  of  marriage,  had  made  the  two 
very  happy.  Their  deepest  wish  was  that  they 
might  never  be  separated. 

The  whole  of  Arcadia  was  charmed  by  Orpheus' 
lute.  No,  there  was  just  one  person  in  that  beauti- 
ful country  who  positively  disliked  music,  and 
that  was  the  bee-man,  Aristaeus.  In  fact,  Aris- 
taeus  could  not  see  the  value  of  anything  beauti- 
ful, the  statues  and  vases  in  the  temple  of  Apollo, 
the  tapestries  the  weavers  decorated  with  so  many 
soft  colors,  the  tints  of  the  wild  flowers,  or  the 
arch  of  the  rainbow  in  the  sky  after  a  shower. 
This  bee-man  could  find  no  interest  in  anything 
except  his  combs  of  yellow  honey,  their  number, 
and  how  many  gold  coins  he  would  be  paid  for 
them.  Not  only  did  Aristaeus  dislike  beautiful 


244  WONDER  STORIES 

things,  but  he  did  not  want  others  to  enjoy  them. 
A  cross  old  Arcadian,  was  he  not? 

He  was  feeling  particularly  disagreeable  on  the 
morning  when  Orpheus  began  playing  his  lute 
near  his  farm.  And  when  Eurydice,  whom  Orpheus 
so  loved,  approached  him  to  ask  for  a  comb  of 
his  delicious  honey  for  dinner  for  the  two,  Aris- 
taeus  entirely  lost  his  temper.  He  not  only  re- 
fused the  nymph,  which  no  one  but  a  very  stingy 
person  could  have  done,  for  she  smiled  at  him  so 
winningly  and  asked  for  it  so  politely;  but  he 
chased  Eurydice  off  his  farm. 

No  one  had  treated  Eurydice  so  rudely  in  all  her 
life  before.  Even  Pan  had  gathered  flowers  for 
her  to  twine  into  garlands  and  had  refrained  from 
teasing  her  as  he  did  almost  all  the  other  nymphs. 
And  here  she  was,  a  long  distance  from  Orpheus 
and  pursued  by  an  ugly  tempered  country  man! 
Eurydice  ran  like  the  wind,  the  bee-man  coming 
fast  behind  her.  She  was  much  fleeter  than  he  and 
would  have  reached  the  woods  safely,  but  she  stepped 
suddenly  on  a  snake  that  she  had  not  seen  as  it  lay 
coiled  up  in  the  grass.  The  snake  stung  Eurydice's 
bare  feet  and  she  dropped  down  on  the  ground. 


WONDER  STORIES  245 

"It  serves  her  right!"  the  bee-man  said,  not  go- 
ing to  see  how  badly  she  was  hurt.  And  with  that 
he  went  back  to  his  bees. 

Aristaeus  was  the  very  first  bee-man,  the  myths 
tell  us.  When  the  gods  made  the  little  creatures 
of  the  earth  they  made  also  the  honey  bees  and 
taught  them  how  to  build  themselves  homes  in 
hollow  trees  or  holes  in  the  rocks,  to  find  the  nec- 
tar in  the  flowers,  and  make  from  it  their  thick, 
golden  honey.  Aristaeus  was  the  son  of  the  water- 
nymph  Cyrene,  and  he  came  to  Arcadia  with  the 
remembrance  of  the  music  of  the  waters  and  the 
brightness  of  the  sun  in  his  heart,  but  when  he 
discovered  how  to  attract  the  bees  to  his  farm 
and  take  their  honey  away  from  them  and  sell 
it,  he  forgot  everything  except  his  business.  That 
was  when  he  began  to  dislike  Orpheus  and  to 
become  blind  to  the  fair  country  in  which  he 
lived. 

"Three  hives  are  swarming  to-day,"  the  bee- 
man  thought  as  he  came  home.  "I  ought  to  be 
able  to  get  a  good  sum  for  the  honey."  Then, 
as  he  reached  the  orchard  where  his  hives  were 
placed  on  the  wall,  he  looked  about  him  in  amaze- 


246  WONDER  STORIES 

ment.  Hives,  bees,  all  were  gone.  Not  a  buzz,  a 
sting,  or  a  single  drop  of  honey  was  leftl 

Aristaeus  looked  throughout  the  entire  coun- 
tryside for  his  bees  for  days,  but  he  could  not  find 
a  single  one.  At  last  he  gave  up  the  search  and 
did  what  a  good  many  boys  and  girls  would  be 
apt  to  do  in  the  same  emergency.  He  went  to 
ask  the  advice  of  his  mother,  the  sea-nymph  Gyrene. 

He  went  to  the  edge  of  the  river  where  he  knew 
she  lived  and  called  her. 

"O  mother,  the  pride  of  my  life  is  taken  away 
from  me.  I  have  lost  my  precious  bees.  My 
care  and  skill  have  availed  me  nothing.  Can  you 
turn  from  me  this  blow  of  misfortune?" 

His  mother  heard  these  complaints  as  she  sat  in 
her  palace  at  the  bottom  of  the  river  with  her 
attendant  nymphs  around  her.  They  were  busy 
spinning  and  weaving  beautiful  designs  in  water 
weeds  and  painting  pebbles  while  another  told 
stories  to  amuse  the  rest.  But  the  sad  voice  of  the 
bee-man  interrupted  them  and  one  put  her  head 
above  the  water.  Seeing  Aristaeus,  she  returned 
and  told  his  mother,  who  ordered  that  he  be  brought 
down  to  her. 


WONDER  STORIES  247 

At  the  command  of  Cyrene,  the  river  opened 
itself  and  let  him  pass  through,  as  it  stood  curled 
like  a  mountain  on  either  side.  The  bee-man  de- 
scended to  the  place  where  the  fountains  of  the 
great  rivers  lie.  He  saw  the  enormous  rock  beds 
of  the  waters  and  was  almost  deafened  by  their 
roar  as  he  saw  them  hurrying  off  in  all  their  dif- 
ferent directions  to  water  the  face  of  the  earth. 
Then  Aristaeus  came  to  his  mother's  palace  of  shells 
and  stone  and  he  was  taken  to  her  apartment  where 
he  told  her  his  troubles. 

Cyrene,  being  a  dweller  of  the  waters  which  are 
the  fountain  of  life,  was  very  wise.  She  under- 
stood at  once  that  her  son  had  made  a  mistake  in 
not  seeing  that  it  was  possible  to  combine  beauty 
and  usefulness.  Arcadia  needed  bees,  but  it  needed 
Orpheus  and  his  lute  also,  and  the  gods  had  pun- 
ished the  bee-man  for  his  sordidness.  Still,  he  was 
her  son  and  Cyrene  decided  to  try  and  help  Aris- 
taeus out  of  his  difficulty. 

"You  must  go  to  old  Proteus,  who  is  the  herds- 
man of  Neptune's  sea-calves,"  Cyrene  said.  "He 
can  tell  you,  my  son,  how  to  get  back  your  bees, 
for  he  is  a  great  prophet.  You  will  have  to  force 


248  WONDER  STORIES 

him  to  help  you,  however.  If  you  are  able  to  seize 
him,  chain  him  at  once;  he  will  answer  your  ques- 
tions in  order  to  be  released.  I  will  conduct  you 
to  the  cave  where  he  comes  at  noon  to  take  his  nap. 
Then  you  can  easily  secure  him,  but  when  he  finds 
himself  in  chains  he  will  cause  you  a  great  deal  of 
trouble.  He  will  make  a  noise  like  the  crackling 
of  flames  so  as  to  frighten  you  into  loosing  your 
hold  on  the  chain.  Or  he  may  become  a  wild  boar, 
a  fierce  tiger,  a  lion  with  ravenous  jaws  or  a  de- 
vouring dragon.  But  you  have  only  to  keep  Pro- 
teus fast  bound  and  when  he  finds  all  his  arts  to  be 
of  no  avail  he  will  return  to  his  natural  shape  and 
obey  your  commands." 

So  Cyrene  led  Aristaeus  to  the  cave  by  the  sea 
and  showed  him  where  to  hide  behind  a  rock  while 
she,  herself,  arose  and  took  her  place  behind  the 
clouds.  Promptly  at  noon  old  Proteus,  covered  with 
dripping  green  weeds,  issued  from  the  water  fol- 
lowed by  a  herd  of  sea  calves  who  spread  themselves 
out  on  the  shore.  The  herdsman  of  the  sea  counted 
them,  sat  down  on  the  floor  of  the  cave,  and  then  in 
a  very  short  time  had  stretched  himself  out,  fast 
asleep.  Aristaeus  waited  until  he  was  snoring  and 


WONDER  STORIES  249 

then  he  bound  him  with  a  heavy  chain  he  had 
brought  for  the  purpose. 

When  Proteus  awoke  and  found  himself  cap- 
tured, he  struggled  like  a  wild  animal  at  bay. 
Next,  he  turned  to  flame  and  then,  in  succession 
to  many  terrible  beasts,  but  Aristaeus  never  once 
let  go  of  the  chain  that  secured  him.  At  last  he 
returned  to  his  true  form  and  spoke  angrily  to 
Aristaeus. 

"Who  are  you,  who  boldly  invades  my  domain- 
and  what  do  you  want?"  Proteus  demanded. 

"You  know  already,"  the  bee-man  replied,  "for 
you  have  the  powers  of  a  prophet  and  nothing  is 
hidden  from  you.  I  have  lost  my  bees,  and  I 
want  to  have  them  returned  to  me." 

At  these  words,  the  prophet  fixed  his  eyes  on 
Aristaeus  with  a  piercing  look. 

"Your  trouble  is  the  just  reward  sent  you  by 
the  gods  because  you  killed  Eurydice,"  he  said. 
"To  avenge  her  death,  her  companion  nymphs  sent 
this  destruction  to  your  bees." 

"I  killed  Eurydice?"  Aristaeus  asked  in  amaze- 
ment. "Does  she  no  longer  listen  to  the  music 
of  Orpheus?" 


250  WONDER  STORIES 

"Yes,  but  not  in  Arcadia,"  Proteus  explained. 
"When  she  was  stung  by  the  viper,  she  was  obliged 
to  make  her  way  alone  to  the  dark  realm  of  Pluto. 
Orpheus  sang  his  grief  to  all  who  breathed  the  upper 
air,  both  gods  and  men,  and  then  he  started  out 
to  search  for  Eurydice.  He  passed  through  the 
crowd  of  ghosts  and  entered  the  realm  beyond  the 
dark  river  Styx.  There,  in  front  of  the  throne  of 
Pluto,  he  sang  of  his  longing  that  Eurydice  might 
be  restored  to  him,  until  the  cheeks  of  even  the 
Fates  were  wet  with  tears." 

"Pluto  himself  gave  way  to  Orpheus'  music  and 
called  Eurydice.  She  came  to  Orpheus,  limping 
on  her  wounded  foot.  They  roam  the  happy  fields 
of  the  gods  together  now,  he  leading  sometimes  and 
sometimes  she.  And  Jupiter  has  placed  Orpheus' 
lyre  among  the  stars. 

As  Proteus  finished  telling  his  story,  the  penitent 
Aristaeus  fell  on  the  ground  at  his  feet. 

"What  can  I  do  to  appease  the  anger  of  the  gods 
for  my  wickedness?"  he  asked. 

"You  may  use  your  skill  to  build  temples  to  the 
two  in  the  country  of  Arcadia  which  they  so  loved," 
Proteus  said.  "Take  your  way  home.  Forget 


WONDER  STORIES  251 

your  own  gains  for  a  while  and  gather  stones  to  fit 
together  for  the  altars." 

So  the  bee-man  did  this,  and  he  discovered  that 
he  came  to  enjoy  the  work  very  much.  He  took 
pleasure  in  cutting  and  polishing  the  stones  until 
they  were  as  beautiful  as  those  of  any  temple  in 
Greece.  As  he  worked  in  the  grove  that  he  had 
selected  for  his  building  he  often  thought  that  he 
detected  the  music  of  Orpheus'  lyre  as  the  birds 
sang,  and  the  streams  rippled,  and  the  wind  blew 
through  the  leaves.  He  found  it  very  sweet  indeed. 

One  day,  shortly  after  his  beautiful  altars  were 
built,  Aristaeus  found  a  wonder.  It  was  spring, 
when  the  nearby  orchards  were  white  and  sweet 
with  blossoms,  and  there  were  all  his  honey  bees 
returned,  and  busily  starting  their  hives  under  the 
shadow  of  the  temple  of  Eurydice. 


WHEN  POMONA  SHARED  HER  APPLES. 

Pomona  was  a  dryad,  and  Venus  had  given  her 
a  wild  apple  tree  to  be  her  home.  As  Pomona 
grew  up  under  the  shadow  of  its  branches,  protect- 
ing the  buds  from  winter  storms,  dressing  herself 
in  its  pink  blossoms  in  the  spring  time,  and  holding 
up  her  hands  to  catch  its  apples  in  the  fall,  she 
found  that  her  love  for  this  fruit  tree  was  greater 
than  anything  else  in  her  life.  At  last  Pomona 
planted  the  first  orchard  and  lived  in  it  and 
tended  it. 

The  dryads  were  those  favored  children  of  the 
gods  who  lived  in  the  ancient  woods  and  groves, 
each  in  her  special  tree.  Dressed  in  fluttering  green 
garments,  they  danced  through  the  woodland  ways 
with  steps  as  light  as  the  wind,  sang  to  the  tune  of 
Pan's  pipe,  or  fled,  laughing,  from  the  Fauns.  They 
missed  Pomona  in  the  woods,  and  tales  came  to 
these  forest  dwellers  of  the  wonders  she  was  work- 
ing in  the  raising  of  fruits  fit  for  the  table  of  the 
gods. 

252 


WONDER  STORIES  253 

She  had  trees  on  which  golden  oranges  and  yellow 
lemons  hung  among  deep  green  leaves.  She  raised 
citrons  and  limes,  and  even  cultivated  the  wide 
spreading  tamarind  tree  whose  fruit  was  of  such 
value  to  Epictetus,  the  physician  of  Greece,  in 
cooling  the  fires  of  fever.  The  wood  folk  left 
their  mossy  hiding  places  to  peer  over  the  wall 
of  Pomona's  orchard  and  watch  her  working  so 
busily  there. 

They  were  a  strange  company.  Pan  came  from 
Arcadia  where  he  was  the  god  of  flocks  and  shep- 
herds. He  had  fastened  some  reeds  from  the  stream 
together  to  make  his  pipes,  and  on  them  he  could 
play  the  merriest  music.  It  sounded  like  birds 
and  the  singing  of  brooks  and  summer  breezes  all  in 
one.  With  Pan  came  his  family  of  Fauns,  the 
deities  of  the  woods  and  fields.  Their  bodies  were 
covered  with  bristling  hair,  there  were  short,  sprout- 
ing horns  on  their  heads,  and  their  feet  were  shaped 
like  those  of  a  goat.  Pan  was  of  the  same  strange 
guise  as  the  Fauns  were,  but  to  distinguish  his 
rank,  he  wore  a  garland  of  pine  about  his  head. 

These  and  Pomona's  sisters,  the  dryads,  watched 
her  longingly  from  the  budding  time  of  the  year  until 


254  WONDER  STORIES 

the  harvest.  It  was  a  pleasant  sight  to  see  Pomona 
taking  care  of  her  apples.  She  was  never  without 
a  pruning  knife  which  she  carried  as  proudly  as 
Jupiter  did  his  sceptre.  With  it  she  trimmed 
away  the  foliage  of  her  fruit  trees  wherever  it  had 
grown  too  thick,  cut  the  branches  that  had  straggled 
out  of  shape,  and  sometimes  deftly  split  a  twig  to 
graft  in  a  new  one  so  that  the  tree  might  bear  differ- 
ent, better  apples. 

Pomona  even  led  streams  of  water  close  to  the 
roots  of  the  trees  so  that  they  need  not  suffer 
from  drought.  She  looked,  herself,  a  part  of  the 
orchard,  for  she  wore  a  wreath  of  bright  fruits 
and  her  arms  were  often  full  of  apples  almost 
as  huge  and  golden  as  the  famous  apples  of 
Hesperides. 

The  dryads  and  the  Fauns  begged  one,  at  least, 
of  the  apples,  but  Pomona  refused  them  all.  She 
had  grown  selfish  through  the  seasons  in  which  she 
had  brought  her  orchard  to  a  state  of  such  bounteous 
perfection.  She  would  not  give  away  a  single 
apple,  and  she  kept  her  gate  always  locked.  So 
the  wood  creatures  were  obliged  to  go  home  empty 
handed  to  their  forest  places. 


WONDER  STORIES  255 

In  those  days  Vertumnus  was  one  of  the  lesser 
gods  who  watched  over  the  seasons.  The  fame 
of  Pomona's  fruits  came  to  the  ear  of  Vertumnus 
and  he  was  suddenly  possessed  of  a  great  desire 
to  share  the  orchard  and  its  care  with  her.  He 
sent  messengers  in  the  form  of  the  birds  to  plead 
his  cause  with  Pomona,  but  she  was  just  as  cruel 
to  him  as  she  had  been  to  the  family  of  Pan  and  to 
her  own  sisters.  She  had  made  up  her  mind  that 
she  would  never  share  her  orchard  with  any  one  in 
the  world. 

Vertumnus  would  not  give  up,  though,  He  had 
the  power  to  change  his  form  as  he  willed,  and  he 
decided  to  go  to  Pomona  in  disguise  to  see  if  he 
could  not  win  her  by  appealing  to  her  pity.  She 
was  obliged  to  buy  her  grain,  and  one  day  in  October 
when  the  apple  boughs  bent  low  with  their  great 
red  and  yellow  balls  a  reaper  came  to  the  orchard 
gate  with  a  basket  of  ears  of  corn  for  Pomona. 

"  I  ask  no  gold  for  my  grain,"  he  said  to  the  goddess, 
"I  want  only  a  basket  full  of  fruit  in  return  for  it." 

"My  fruit  is  not  to  be  given  away  or  bartered 
for.  It  is  mine  and  mine  alone  until  it  spoils," 
Pomona  replied,  driving  the  reaper  away. 


256  WONDER  STORIES 

But  the  following  day  a  farmer  stopped  at  the 
orchard,  an  ox  goad  in  his  hand  as  if  he  had  just 
unyoked  a  pair  of  weary  oxen  from  his  hay  cart, 
left  them  resting  beside  some  stream,  and  had  gone 
on  to  ask  refreshment  for  himself.  Pomona  in- 
vited him  into  her  orchard,  but  she  did  not  offer 
him  a  single  apple.  As  soon  as  the  sun  began 
to  lower  she  bade  him  be  on  his  way. 

In  the  days  that  followed  Vertumnus  came  to 
Pomona  in  many  guises.  He  appeared  with  a 
pruning  hook  and  a  ladder  as  if  he  were  a  vine 
dresser  ready  and  willing  to  climb  up  into  her  trees 
and  help  her  gather  the  harvest.  But  Pomona 
scorned  his  services.  Then  Vertumnus  trudged 
along  as  a  discharged  soldier  in  need  of  alms,  and 
again  with  a  fishing  rod  and  a  string  of  fish  to  ex- 
change for  only  one  apple.  Each  time  that  Ver- 
tumnus came  disguised  to  Pomona  he  found  her 
more  beautiful  and  her  orchard  a  place  of  greater 
plenty  than  ever;  but  the  richer  her  harvest  the 
deeper  was  her  greed.  She  refused  to  share  even  a 
half  of  one  of  her  apples. 

At  last,  when  the  vines  were  dripping  with  purple 
juice  of  the  grape  and  the  boughs  of  the  fruit  trees 


WONDER  STORIES  257 

hung  so  heavily  that  they  touched  the  ground,  a 
strange  woman  hobbled  down  the  road  and  stopped 
at  Pomona's  gate.  Her  hair  was  white  and  she 
was  obliged  to  lean  on  a  staff.  Pomona  opened  the 
gate  and  the  crone  entered  and  sat  down  on  a  bank, 
admiring  the  trees. 

"Your  orchard  does  you  great  credit,  my 
daughter,"  she  said  to  Pomona. 

Then  she  pointed  to  a  grape  vine  that  twined 
itself  about  the  trunk  and  branches  of  an  old  oak. 
The  oak  was  massive  and  strong,  and  the  vine  clung 
to  it  in  safety  and  had  covered  itself  with  bunches 
of  beautiful  purple  grapes. 

"If  that  tree  stood  alone,"  the  old  woman  ex- 
plained to  Pomona,  "with  no  vine  to  cling  to  it, 
it  would  have  nothing  to  offer  but  its  useless 
leaves.  And  if  the  vine  did  not  have  the  tree 
to  cling  to,  it  would  have  to  lie  prostrate  on  the 
ground." 

"You  should  take  a  lesson  from  the  vine.  Might 
not  your  orchard  be  still  more  fruitful  if  you  were 
to  open  the  gate  to  Vertumnus  who  has  charge  of 
the  seasons  and  can  help  you  as  the  oak  helps  the 
vine?  The  gods  believe  in  sharing  the  gifts  they 


258  WONDER  STORIES 

give  the  earth.  No  one  who  is  selfish  can  prosper 
for  long." 

"Tell  me  about  this  Vertumnus,  good  mother," 
Pomona  asked  curiously. 

"I  know  Vertumnus  as  well  as  I  know  myself," 
the  crone  replied.  "He  is  not  a  wandering  god,  but 
belongs  among  these  hills  and  pastures  of  our  fair 
land.  He  is  young  and  handsome  and  has  the 
power  to  take  upon  himself  any  form  that  he  may 
wish.  H e  1  ikes  the  same  things  that  you  do,  garden- 
ing, and  caring  for  the  ruddy  fruits.  Venus,  who 
gave  you  an  apple  tree  to  be  your  first  home,  hates 
a  hard  heart  and  if  you  will  persist  in  living  alone 
in  your  orchard,  refusing  to  share  your  apples,  she 
is  likely  to  punish  you  by  sending  frosts  to  blight 
your  young  fruits  and  terrible  winds  to  break  the 
boughs." 

Pomona  clasped  her  hands  in  fear.  She  sud- 
denly understood  how  true  was  everything  that  this 
old  woman  said.  She  had  known  a  spring-time 
when  a  storm  of  wind  and  hail  had  shaken  off  the 
apple  blossoms,  and  frosts  had  touched  the  fruits 
one  fall  before  she  had  been  able  to  pick  them. 

"I  will  open  my  gate  to  the  country  people  and 


WONDER  STORIES  259 

to  strangers,"  she  said,  "I  will  open  it  also  to  Ver- 
tumnus  if  he  is  still  willing  to  share  my  orchard  and 
my  work." 

As  Pomona  spoke,  the  old  woman  rose  and  her 
gray  hair  turned  to  the  dark  locks  of  Vertumnus. 
Her  wrinkles  faded  in  the  glow  of  his  sunburned 
cheeks.  Her  travel  stained  garments  were  replaced 
by  Vertumnus'  russet  gardening  smock  and  her  staff 
to  his  pruning  fork.  He  seemed  to  Pomona  like 
the  sun  bursting  through  a  cloud.  She  had  never 
really  seen  him  before,  having  never  looked  at  any- 
one except  with  the  eyes  of  selfishness.  Vertumnus 
and  Pomona  began  the  harvesting  together,  and 
they  opened  the  gate  wide  to  let  in  those  who  had 
need  of  sharing  their  plenty. 

Then  the  fauns  danced  in  and  made  merry  to  the 
tunes  that  Pan  played.  The  dryads  found  new 
homes  for  themselves  in  the  trunks  of  the  trees, 
and  the  seasons  gave  rain  and  sunshine  in  greater 
abundance  than  ever  before  as  these  two  pruned,  and 
trimmed,  and  grafted  the  trees  and  vines  together. 

Achelous,  the  river  god,  took  his  way  past  the 
orchard  kingdom  of  Pomona  and  Vertumnus  and 
brought  with  him  Plenty  who  was  able  to  fill  her 


260  WONDER  STORIES 

horn  with  gifts  of  fruit  for  all,  apples,  pears,  grapes, 
oranges,  plums,  and  citrons  until  it  overflowed. 
Ever  since  the  October  when  Pomona  opened  her 
gate  and  shared  her  apples,  an  orchard  has  been  a 
place  of  beauty,  bounty,  and  play. 


HOW  PSYCHE  REACHED  MOUNT  OLYMPUS. 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  king  of  Greece  who 
had  three  beautiful  daughters,  but  the  youngest, 
who  was  named  Psyche,  was  the  most  beautiful 
of  all.  The  fame  of  her  lovely  face  and  the  charm 
of  her  whole  being  were  so  great  that  strangers  from 
the  neighboring  countries  came  in  crowds  to  enjoy 
the  sight  and  they  paid  Psyche  the  homage  of  love 
that  was  due  to  Venus  herself.  Venus'  temple  was 
deserted,  and  as  Psyche  passed  by  the  people  sang 
her  praises,  and  strewed  her  way  with  flowers  and 
wreaths. 

Venus  had  a  son,  Cupid,  who  was  dearer  to  her 
than  any  other  being  on  Mount  Olympus  or  in  the 
earth.  Like  every  mother,  Venus  had  great  ambi- 
tions for  the  future  of  her  son,  but  she  was  not  al- 
ways able  to  follow  him,  for  Cupid  had  wings  and 
a  golden  bow  and  arrows  with  which  he  was  fond 
of  playing  among  mortals.  What  was  Venus' 
wrath  to  discover  at  last  that  Cupid  had  lost  his 
heart  to  Psyche,  the  lovely  maiden  of  earth!  It 
261 


262  WONDER  STORIES 

was  like  a  fairy  story  in  which  a  prince  marries  a 
peasant  girl  and  may  not  bring  her  home  to  the 
palace  because  of  her  mean  birth.  Venus  quite 
refused  to  recognize  Psyche  or  award  her  a  place 
in  the  honored  family  of  the  gods. 

Cupid  and  Psyche  had  a  very  wonderful  earthly 
palace  in  which  to  live.  Golden  pillars  supported 
the  vaulted  roof,  and  the  walls  of  the  apartments 
of  state  were  richly  carved  and  hung  with  embroid- 
ered tapestries  of  many  colors.  When  Psyche 
wished  food,  all  she  had  to  do  was  to  seat  herself 
in  an  alcove  when  a  table  immediately  appeared 
without  the  aid  of  servants  and  covered  itself  with 
rare  fruits  and  rich  cakes  and  honey.  When  she 
longed  for  music,  she  had  a  feast  of  it  played  by 
invisible  lutes,  and  with  a  chorus  of  harmonious 
voices.  But  Psyche  was  not  happy  in  this  life  of 
luxury,  for  she  had  to  be  alone  so  much  of  the  time. 
Venus  could  not  take  Cupid  away  from  her  alto- 
gether, but  she  allowed  him  to  be  with  Psyche  only 
in  the  hours  of  darkness.  He  fled  before  the  dawn. 

There  had  been  a  direful  prophecy  in  Psyche's 
family  of  which  her  sisters  had  continually  re- 
minded her. 


WONDER  STORIES  263 

"Your  youngest  daughter  is  destined  for  a  mon- 
ster whom  neither  gods  nor  men  can  resist,"  was 
the  oracle  given  to  the  king,  and  the  memory  of  it 
began  to  fill  Psyche's  heart  with  fear.  Her  sisters 
came  to  visit  her  and  increased  her  fear.  They 
asked  all  manner  of  questions  about  Cupid,  and 
Psyche  was  obliged  to  confess  that  she  could  not 
exactly  describe  him  because  she  had  never  seen 
him  in  the  light  of  day.  Her  jealous  sisters 
began  at  once  to  fill  Psyche's  mind  with  dark 
suspicions. 

"How  do  you  know,"  they  asked,  "that  your 
husband  is  not  a  terrible  and  venomous  serpent, 
who  feeds  you  for  a  while  with  all  these  dainties 
that  he  may  devour  you  in  the  end?  Take  our 
advice.  Provide  yourself  with  a  lamp  well  filled 
with  oil  and  tonight,  when  this  villain  returns  and 
sleeps,  go  into  his  apartment  and  see  whether  of 
not  our  prophecy  is  true." 

Psyche  tried  to  resist  her  sisters,  but  at  last  their 
urging  and  her  own  curiosity  were  too  much  for 
her.  She  filled  her  lamp,  and  when  her  husband 
had  fallen  into  his  first  sleep,  she  went  silently  to 
his  couch  and  held  the  light  above  him. 


264  WONDER  STORIES 

There  lay  Cupid,  the  most  beautiful  and  full  of 
grace  of  all  the  godsl  His  golden  ringlets  were  a 
crown  above  his  snowy  forehead  and  crimson  cheeks, 
and  two  wings  whose  feathers  were  like  the  soft 
white  blossoms  of  the  orchard  sprang  from  his 
shoulders.  In  her  joy  at  finding  no  cause  for  her 
fears,  Psyche  leaned  over,  tipping  her  lamp,  that 
she  might  look  more  closely  at  Cupid's  face.  As 
she  bent  down,  a  drop  of  the  burning  oil  fell  on  the 
god's  shoulder.  He  opened  his  eyes,  startled,  and 
looked  up  at  Psyche.  Then,  without  saying  a 
word,  he  spread  his  wide  wings  and  flew  out  of  the 
window. 

Psyche  tried  to  follow  him,  but  she  had  no  wings 
and  fell  to  the  ground.  For  one  brief  moment 
Cupid  stayed  his  flight  and  turned  to  see  her  lying 
there  below  him  in  the  dust. 

"Foolish  Psyche,"  he  said,  "why  did  you  repay 
my  love  in  this  way?  After  having  disobeyed  my 
mother's  commands  and  made  you  my  wife,  could 
you  not  trust  me?  I  will  inflict  no  further  pun- 
ishment upon  you  than  this,  that  I  leave  you  forever, 
for  love  cannot  live  with  suspicion."  And  with 
these  words  Cupid  flew  out  of  Psyche's  sight. 


WONDER  STORIES  265 

That  was  the  beginning  of  the  long  road  of  trouble 
Psyche  had  to  follow.  She  wandered  day  and  night, 
without  food  or  rest,  in  search  of  Cupid.  One  day 
she  saw  a  magnificent  temple  set  upon  the  brow 
of  a  lofty  hill  and  she  toiled  the  long  way  up  to  it, 
saying  to  herself, 

"Perhaps  my  love  inhabits  here.'* 

When  Psyche  reached  the  top  of  the  hill  and  en- 
tered the  temple,  she  saw  heaps  of  corn,  some  in 
sheaves  and  others  in  loose  ears,  and  there  was 
barley  mingled  with  it.  There  were  sickles  and 
rakes  and  all  the  other  instruments  of  the  harvest 
scattered  about  in  great  confusion  as  if  the  reapers, 
at  the  end  of  the  sultry  day,  had  left  them  in  this 
disorder.  In  spite  of  her  sorrow,  Psyche  could  not 
bear  to  see  this  disarray  and  she  began  trying  to  set 
the  place  in  order.  She  worked  so  busily  that  she 
did  not  see  Ceres,  whose  temple  it  was,  enter.  Turn- 
ing at  last,  Psyche  saw  the  goddess  of  the  harvest, 
wearing  her  fruit  trimmed  garments  and  standing 
at  her  side. 

"Poor  Psyche!"  she  said  pityingly.  "But  it  is 
possible  for  you  to  find  a  way  to  the  abode  of  the 
gods  where  Cupid  has  his  home.  Go  and  surrender 


266  WONDER  STORIES 

yourself  to  Venus  and  try  by  your  own  works  to 
win  her  forgiveness  and,  perhaps,  her  favor." 

So  Psyche  obeyed  this  command  of  Ceres,  afthough 
it  took  a  great  deal  of  courage,  and  she  travelled  to 
the  temple  of  Venus  in  Thebes  where  the  goddess 
received  her  in  anger. 

"The  only  way  by  which  you  can  merit  the  favor 
of  the  gods,  unfortunate  Psyche,"  she  said,  "is  by 
your  own  efforts.  I,  myself,  am  going  to  make  a 
trial  of  your  housewifely  skill  to  see  if  you  are  in- 
dustrious and  dilligent." 

With  these  words  Venus  conducted  Psyche  to  a 
storehouse  connected  with  her  temple  where  there 
was  an  enormous  quantity  of  grain  laid  up;  beans, 
lentils,  barley,  wheat  and  the  tiny  seeds  of  the  millet 
which  Venus  had  stored  to  feed  her  pigeons. 

"Separate  all  these  grains,"  the  goddess  said  to 
Psyche,  "putting  those  of  the  same  kind  in  a  pile, 
and  see  that  you  finish  before  evening."  Then  she 
left  Psyche  who  was  in  consternation  at  the  im- 
possible task  spread  before  her. 

Psyche  dipped  her  fingers  into  the  golden  heap 
gathering  up  a  handful  to  sort  the  grains,  but  it  took 
her  a  long  time  and  the  grain  layabout  her  on  every 


WONDER  STORIES  267 

side  like  a  yellow  river.  The  grains  she  held  were 
less  than  a  drop  taken  from  its  surface. 

"I  shall  not  be  able  to  finish.  I  shall  never  see 
my  husband  again!"  Psyche  moaned. 

Still  she  worked  on  steadily  and  at  last  a  little 
ant,  a  native  of  the  fields,  crawled  across  the  floor 
and  took  compassion  on  the  toiling  Psyche.  It 
was  a  king  in  its  own  domain  and  was  followed  by 
a  host  of  its  little  red  subjects.  Grain  by  grain, 
they  separated  the  seeds,  helping  to  put  them  in 
their  own  piles,  and  when  the  work  was  accom- 
plished they  vanished  as  quickly  as  they  had  ap- 
peared. 

When  evening  came  Venus  returned,  breathing 
odors  of  nectar  and  crowned  with  roses,  from 
a  banquet  of  the  gods.  When  she  saw  that 
Psyche's  task  was  done,  she  scarcely  believed  her 
eyes. 

"You  must  have  had  assistance,'*  she  said. 
"To-morrow  you  shall  try  a  more  difficult  under- 
taking. Beyond  my  temple  you  will  see  a  grassy 
meadow  which  stretches  along  the  borders  of  the 
water.  There  you  will  find  a  flock  of  sheep  with 
golden  shining  fleeces  on  their  backs  and  grazing 


268  WONDER  STORIES 

without  a  shepherd.  Bring  me  a  sample  of  their 
precious  wool  that  you  gather  from  each  of  the 
fleeces." 

Psyche  once  more  obeyed,  but  this  was  a  test  of 
her  life  as  well  as  of  her  endurance.  As  she  reached 
the  meadow,  the  river  god,  whispering  to  her  through 
the  rushes,  warned  her. 

"Do  not  venture  among  the  flock  while  the  sun 
shines  on  them,"  he  told  her.  "In  the  heat  of  the 
rising  sun,  the  rams  burn  with  a  cruel  rage  to  destroy 
mortals  with  their  sharp  teeth.  Wait  until  twilight, 
when  you  will  find  their  woolly  gold  sticking  to  the 
bushes  and  the  trunks  of  the  trees." 

The  compassion  of  the  river  god  helped  Psyche 
to  do  as  Venus  had  commanded  her  and  she  returned 
to  the  temple  in  the  evening  with  her  arms  full  of 
golden  fleece. 

Still  Venus  was  not  satisfied. 

"I  have  a  third  task  for  you,"  she  told  the  weary 
Psyche.  "Take  this  box  to  the  realm  of  Pluto 
and  give  it  to  Proserpine  saying  to  her,  'My  mis- 
tress, Venus,  desires  you  to  send  her  a  little  of  your 
beauty,  for  in  tending  her  son  whom  Psyche  burned 
she  has  lost  some  of  her  own/  And  make  all  pos- 


WONDER  STORIES  269 

sible  haste,  for  I  must  use  it  before  I  appear  next  in 
the  circle  of  the  gods  on  Mount  Olympus." 

Psyche  felt  that  now  her  destruction  was  surely 
at  hand.  It  was  a  dangerous  road  that  led  to  the 
dark,  underground  kingdom  of  Pluto  and  there  were 
deadly  dangers  on  the  way.  But  Psyche  was  find- 
ing a  new  courage  with  each  of  the  difficulties  that 
she  had  to  encounter,  and  she  set  out  with  the  box. 
She  passed  safely  by  Cerberus,  Pluto's  three  headed 
watch  dog.  She  prevailed  upon  Charon,  the  ferry- 
man, to  take  her  across  the  black  river  and  wait  for 
her  while  she  begged  Proserpine  to  fill  the  box. 
Then  she  started  back  to  the  light  again. 

All  would  have  gone  well  with  Psyche  if  she  had 
not  grown  curious.  That  was  why  her  road  to 
the  dwelling  place  of  the  gods  was  so  long  and  diffi- 
cult. Psyche  was  always  mixing  up  a  little  bit  of 
earth  with  her  good  intentions.  Having  come  so 
far  successfully  with  her  dangerous  task,  she  wanted 
to  open  the  box. 

"I  would  take  only  the  least  bit  of  this  beauty 
from  Venus,"  Psyche  thought,  "to  make  myself 
more  fair  for  Cupid  if  I  ever  behold  him  again." 

So  she  carefully  opened  the  box,  but  there  was 


270  WONDER  STORIES 

nothing  in  it  of  beauty  at  all.  It  was  a  potion  that 
caused  Psyche  to  fall  beside  the  road  in  a  sleep  which 
seemed  to  have  no  waking.  She  did  not  stir,  or 
breathe,  or  remember. 

It  was  there  that  love,  in  the  form  of  Cupid  found 
Psyche.  He  was  healed  of  his  wound,  and  he  could 
not  bear  her  absence  any  longer.  He  flew  through 
a  crack  in  the  window  of  the  palace  of  Venus  and 
made  his  way  to  earth  and  straight  to  the  spot 
where  Psyche  lay.  He  gathered  the  deadly  sleep 
from  her  body  and  put  it  fast  inside  the  box  again. 
Then  he  touched  her  lightly  with  one  of  his  arrows 
and  she  woke. 

"Again  you  have  almost  perished  because  of  your 
curiosity,"  he  said  as  Psyche  reached  up  her  arms 
to  him  "but  perform  exactly  this  task  which  my 
mother  asked  of  you  and  I  will  attend  to  the  rest." 

Then  Cupid,  as  swift  as  a  bird  flies,  returned  to 
Mount  Olympus  and  pleaded  with  Jupiter  for  a 
welcome  for  Psyche.  Jupiter  consented  at  last  to 
have  this  daughter  of  earth  admitted  to  the  family 
of  the  gods  and  Mercury  was  sent  to  bring  her  and 
offer  her  the  cup  of  ambrosial  nectar  that  would 
make  her  one  of  the  immortals. 


WONDER  STORIES  271 

It  is  said  that  at  the  moment  when  Psyche  com- 
pleted her  tasks  and  took  her  departure  for  Mount 
Olympus  a  winged  creature,  the  butterfly,  that  had 
never  been  seen  before  on  earth,  arose  from  a  garden 
and  flew  on  golden  wings  up  toward  the  sun.  So 
it  was  thought  that  the  story  of  Psyche  was  the 
story  of  the  butterfly  who  bursts  its  gray  house  of 
the  cocoon  and  rises,  with  a  new  beauty  and  the 
power  of  wings,  toward  the  sky.  And  the  Greeks 
had  still  another  name  for  Psyche  whom  neither 
her  troubles  or  the  sleep  of  Pluto  could  keep  from 
the  abode  of  the  gods  when  Love  pleaded  for  her. 
They  spoke  of  her  as  the  Soul. 


HOW  MELAMPOS  FED  THE  SERPENT. 

There  was  a  hollow  oak  tree  in  front  of  the  house 
of  Melampos  in  Greece  and  inside  it  was  a  nest  of 
serpents. 

Melampos  was  a  farmer,  skilful  in  raising  fruits 
and  grains  and  full  of  love  for  everything  that  lived 
out  of  doors.  He  would  not  so  much  as  crush  an 
ant  hurrying  home  to  its  hill  with  a  grain  of  sand, 
and  although  he  did  not  particularly  like  snakes  he 
saw  no  harm  in  these  that  had  made  themselves 
a  home  in  a  tree  that  no  one  wanted. 

'They  will  do  us  no  hurt  unless  we  disturb  them," 
Melampos  told  his  servants.  "Let  them  alone  and 
perhaps,  when  the  weather  is  warmer,  they  will  take 
their  way  off  to  the  neighboring  marsh." 

But  Melampos'  servants  were  not  so  sure  as  he 
of  the  harmlessness  of  the  serpents. 

"Our  master  is  growing  old  and  child  like,"  they 
said  to  each  other.  "The  next  time  he  drives  to 
the  city  with  a  load  of  grain  we  will  get  rid  of  the 
nest  of  vipers." 

272 


WONDER  STORIES  273 

So  that  was  what  they  did.  In  Melampos'  ab- 
sence they  fired  the  nest  of  the  serpents  with  a  torch, 
and  burned  it  up  completely,  as  they  thought.  But 
when  Melampos  returned  that  afternoon  and  sat 
down  under  his  arbor  to  rest  and  eat  his  supper 
of  bread  and  grapes,  he  saw  a  pair  of  bright  black 
eyes  peering  up  at  him  from  the  grass.  Then  he 
spied  a  round  green  head  raised  above  a  long  green 
body.  It  was  one  of  the  young  serpents  that  had 
not  been  hurt  when  the  nest  was  burned  and  had 
come  to  the  master  of  the  place  for  protection. 

Melampos  looked  cautiously  around  to  see  that 
no  one  was  watching  him. 

"If  any  of  the  servants  see  me,  they  will  think 
me  out  of  my  senses,"  he  said  to  himself,  "but  I 
am  sorry  for  this  little  creature  and  would  befriend 
it."  Then,  seeing  that  he  was  quite  unobserved, 
Melampos  broke  off  a  piece  of  his  bread  and  threw 
the  crumbs  to  the  young  serpent.  It  devoured 
them  to  the  last  one  and  then  glided  off  so  silently 
that  it  left  no  trail  except  a  long  line  of  gently  mov- 
ing grasses. 

The  next  day  the  serpent  came  and  the  next, 
always  hungry  and  always  lifting  its  little  head  and 


274  WONDER  STORIES 

looking  at  Melampos  in  its  odd,  bright  way.  One 
day  as  Melampos  broke  his  bread  as  usual  to  share 
it  with  the  serpent,  he  heard  a  voice  speaking  to 
him. 

"The  gods  have  been  watching  your  kindness, 
Melampos,"  it  said,  "and  have  rewarded  you  in 
the  way  you  will  like  best.  They  have  given  you 
the  power  of  understanding  the  tongues  of  the 
wild." 

Melampos  looked  all  about  him,  but  there  was 
not  another  mortal  within  sight.  Then  his  eyes 
caught  those  of  the  serpent  and  he  suddenly  real- 
ized that  it  had  been  its  voice  which  he  had  heard. 
That  was  the  beginning  of  strange  experiences  for 
Melampos  upon  whom  the  gods  had  conferred  so 
wonderful  a  gift. 

The  serpent  never  returned  after  that  day,  but 
that  very  same  evening  a  tree  toad  spoke  to  Melam- 
pos. 

"Water  your  olive  trees  well  around  the  roots, 
Melampos/'  it  said,  "for  there  is  a  season  of  drought 
approaching." 

That  was  an  excellent  warning,  because  the 
farmer  had  a  grove  of  young  trees  that  needed  very 


WONDER  STORIES  275 

tender  care.  Melampos  sprayed  the  trees  and 
soaked  the  roots  and  felt  very  thankful  to  the  tree 
toad  for  its  advice. 

After  a  few  days  of  dry  weather  Melampos  was 
on  his  way  to  the  city  when  a  grasshopper  spoke  to 
him  from  the  side  of  the  road. 

"Turn  back,  Melampos,  and  gather  your  sheaves 
of  wheat  into  your  storehouse,"  the  grasshopper 
said,  "for  Jupiter  is  about  to  send  a  thunderbolt 
down  to  the  earth." 

That  was  exactly  what  happened.  Melampos 
had  just  time  to  reach  his  grain  field  and  order 
his  men  to  put  the  ripe  sheaves  safely  under  cover 
when  the  sky  grew  black  and  the  thunder  rolled 
along  the  mountain  tops.  A  high  wind  blew  and 
the  rain  was  heavy,  but  Melampos  had  saved  his 
harvest. 

All  outdoors  talked  to  Melampos  after  that,  and 
it  was  very  pleasant  indeed,  for  he  had  no  boys 
and  girls  of  his  own  to  keep  him  company.  If  he 
sat  down  to  rest  on  a  bank  of  moss  in  the  forest, 
he  was  at  once  surrounded  by  friends.  A  little 
wild  bee  would  light  on  a  branch  in  front  of  him 
and  tell  him  where  he  might  find  its  sweet  comb 


276  WONDER  STORIES 

dripping  with  honey  nearby.  A  butterfly  would 
poise  on  his  rough,  soil  stained  hand  and  tell  him 
where  he  would  be  able  to  see  a  bed  of  yellow  daffo- 
dils beside  a  brook.  Or  a  bird  in  a  nearby  bush 
would  sing  to  him  of  the  gay  doings  of  Pan  and  the 
dryads  and  tell  him  the  road  to  take  to  their  haunts 
farther  and  deeper  in  the  woods. 

Melampos  had  never  had  such  a  good  time  in 
his  life.  He  was  an  excellent  husbandman  and 
managed  to  make  his  farm  pay  well  every  year, 
but  he  cared  very  much  more  for  this  friendship 
of  outdoors  than  he  did  for  the  hoards  of  food 
each  harvest  gave  him.  And,  more  and  more, 
he  came  to  stay  in  the  woods  and  fields,  holding 
conversation  with  the  insects  and  the  wild  animals. 

One  harvest  season  Melampos  was  returning 
from  the  market  with  a  large  purse  of  gold  pieces 
that  had  just  been  paid  him  for  the  sale  of  his 
summer  wheat.  He  was  taking  his  way  through 
a  deserted  path  of  the  forest  where  he  hoped  he 
might  hear  the  echo,  at  least,  of  the  merry  pipes 
of  Pan.  He  had  not  a  thought  or  care  in  the  world 
when,  in  an  instant,  he  was  laid  low  on  the  ground 
from  a  blow  on  his  head,  his  gold  was  snatched 


WONDER  STORIES  277 

away  from  him,  and  he  was  bound  so  tightly  that 
he  could  not  move.  Melampos  had  been  set 
upon  by  a  band  of  robbers  who  threw  him  over  the 
back  of  a  horse  and  made  off  with  him  into  the 
recesses  of  the  forest. 

It  was  not  that  peaceful,  sylvan  grove  of  the 
forest  that  Pan  and  his  friends  inhabited,  but  a 
dark,  gloomy  part  where  it  was  so  still  that  even  the 
sound  of  a  twig  falling  to  the  ground  seemed  as 
loud  as  the  splintering  of  an  arrow,  and  no  one 
ever  passed  by.  The  robbers  put  Melampos  in 
an  underground  passage  of  a  prison-like  fortress 
which  they  had  built  for  themselves.  From  beam 
to  floor  the  fortress  was  built  all  of  oak  planks  so 
old  and  thick  and  so  completely  covered  with  ivy 
on  the  outside  that  it  looked  like  part  of  the  forest 
itself. 

Melampos  had  only  a  slit  in  the  wall  for  a  win- 
dow, and  he  never  saw  his  captors  save  when  they 
tossed  him  some  dried  crusts  once  a  day.  He  could 
hear  them,  though,  counting  their  stolen  coin  and 
rattling  it  about.  Then  he  heard  the  sound  of 
clinking  armor  and  the  occasional  clashing  of 
swords. 


278  WONDER  STORIES 

"They  are  planning  to  kill  me,"  he  thought. 

He  looked  longingly  at  the  narrow  chink  in  his 
prison  wall,  hardly  large  enough  to  let  a  sunbeam 
through. 

"If  I  could  but  beckon  to  a  wood  pigeon  and 
tell  it  my  plight,  I  should  be  able  to  send  a 
message  to  my  friends  by  it,"  he  sighed,  "or  I 
could  ask  the  woodpeckeer  who  can  bore  through 
wood  to  try  and  widen  my  window  so  that  I 
might  escape." 

Just  then  Melampos  heard  a  rustling  sound  in 
the  heavy  beam  of  the  ceiling  of  the  room  where 
he  was  imprisoned  and  then  a  small  voice  spoke  to 
him. 

"We  could  teach  you  better  than  any  other 
creatures  how  to  escape,"  it  said.  "For  years  this 
forest  has  belonged  to  us,  small  as  we  are,  and  in 
a  very  short  time  now  it  will  return  to  the  earth 
from  which  the  trees  that  built  it  came." 

Melampos  was  amazed.  He  looked  in  all  the 
corners  of  the  room  but  could  see  no  one.  Then 
the  voice  went  on. 

"No  wood,  or  men  who  live  in  shelters  made  of 
wood  are  safe  from  us.  We  have  bored  the  beams 


WONDER  STORIES  279 

and  timbers  of  this  fortress  in  a  thousand  places 
until  they  are  hollow  and  ready  to  fall." 

Suddenly  Melampos  discovered  the  source  of 
the  voice.  Through  a  knothole  in  a  beam  above 
his  head  a  wood  worm  peered  down  at  him.  With 
its  companions  it  had  eaten  the  planks  that  made 
the  fortress  until  it  was  no  safer  than  a  house  of 
paper. 

"We  are  all  doomed,"  Melampos  told  one 
of  the  robbers  who  brought  him  his  food  that 
night. 

"Doomed;  what  do  you  mean  by  that?"  the 
robber  asked  in  terror,  for  like  most  of  his  kind 
he  was  nothing  but  a  coward  at  heart. 

Melampos  showed  him  the  decayed  wood,  hollow, 
and  riddled  with  holes,  and  the  man  called  his  com- 
panions to  see  their  danger.  They  decided  that  they 
must  flee  from  the  fortress  at  once,  and  they  decided 
to  give  Melampos  his  freedom.  It  would  not 
have  been  safe  to  stay  in  the  fortress  another  season, 
for  almost  as  soon  as  the  winter  storms  came  it 
crumbled  like  a  house  of  sand,  and  the  ants  and 
the  crickets  used  it  to  make  themselves  winter 
shelters. 


280  WONDER  STORIES 

Melampos  went  back  to  his  farm  and  the  pleasant 
conversation  of  the  insects,  the  birds,  and  his  four- 
footed  friends.  He  was  the  first  mortal  to  have 
such  friends,  but  there  were  others  who  followed  him 
and  found  happiness,  also,  through  being  kind  to 
little  wild  creatures. 


HOW  A  HUNTRESS  BECAME  A  BEAR. 

Although  Juno  was  the  queen  of  the  gods  she 
had  a  failing  that  is  common  to  mortals.  She 
was  very  jealous,  and  particularly  of  any  maiden  of 
Earth  whom  she  fancied  might  sometime  be  given 
a  place  by  Jupiter  among  the  great  family  of  the 
gods  on  Mount  Olympus.  As  soon  as  Juno  saw 
Callisto,  a  beautiful  huntress  of  the  forests  of 
Arcadia,  she  disliked  her. 

Perhaps  Juno  would  have  liked  to  be  free  to  roam 
through  the  woods  where  Pan  played  his  music  for 
dancing  and  the  Dryads  sported  from  one  season 
to  another  as  Callisto  did.  The  goddess  may 
have  envied  the  huntress  her  happy,  free  life  with  no 
royal  duties  to  interfere  with  her  daily  chase  of 
the  deer  or  any  heavy  crown  to  keep  the  breezes 
from  tossing  her  long  dark  hair.  Callisto  reverenced 
Jupiter  and  Juno  alike,  with  no  thought  that  she 
might  be  arousing  the  displeasure  of  the  goddess, 
but  one  day  a  strange  and  fearful  thing  happened 
to  her. 

281 


282  WONDER  STORIES 

She  had  just  raised  her  bow  to  her  shoulder  ready 
to  shoot  an  arrow  as  straight  as  a  dart  through 
the  green  path  of  the  forest  when  it  suddenly  struck 
her  hand  and  she  fell  to  the  moss  upon  her  hands 
and  knees.  She  tried  to  reach  out  her  arms  in 
supplication  but  they  had  become  thick  and  heavy 
and  were  covered  with  long  black  hair.  Her  hands 
grew  rounded,  were  armed  with  crooked  claws 
and  served  her  for  feet.  Her  voice,  which  had  been 
so  sweet  that  it  charmed  the  birds  when  she  called 
to  them,  changed  to  a  terrifying  growl. 

Callisto  raised  herself  as  well  as  she  could,  lift- 
ing up  her  paws  to  beg  mercy  of  the  gods  and  utter- 
ing frightful  roars  as  she  bemoaned  her  fate.  She 
had  always  been  obliged  to  defend  herself  from 
the  lions  and  wolves  that  haunted  the  forest  and 
she  felt  that  she  would  be  at  their  mercy  now. 
All  at  once,  though,  she  understood  what  had 
happened  to  her.  She,  herself,  was  now  no  longer 
a  mortal  but  a  wild  beast.  Juno  had  persuaded 
Jupiter  to  change  Callisto  to  the  first  bear. 

She  had  never  liked  to  be  out  in  the  wood  at 
night,  but  now  she  had  no  shelter  and  had  to  roam 
through  the  darkness,  pursued  often  by  the  same 


WONDER  STORIES  283 

wild  beasts  whom  it  had  been  her  custom  to  hunt 
before.  She  fled  from  her  own  dogs  in  terror  and 
was  in  hourly  terror  of  the  same  arrows  which  she 
had  formerly  aimed  so  straight.  In  the  winter 
Callisto  crawled  into  some  hollow  log  or  dug  a 
cave  for  herself  that  she  might  keep  alive  during 
the  season  of  the  North  Wind's  reign,  and  when 
spring  came  she  crawled  out,  lean  and  weak,  to 
search  for  the  wild  bee's  comb  and  the  first  juicy 
berries  of  the  juniper. 

One  day  a  boy  saw  the  bear  as  he  was  out  hunt- 
ing. Callisto  saw  him  at  the  same  time  and  realized 
that  he  was  her  own  son,  Areas,  now  grown  to  be 
a  tall  youth  and  taking  his  part  in  the  chase  as 
his  mother  had  so  many  seasons  before.  Callisto 
forgot  her  changed  form  in  her  great  joy  at  seeing 
her  son,  and  she  arose  to  her  hind  feet  and  has- 
tened toward  him  holding  out  her  paws  to  em- 
brace him.  The  boy,  alarmed,  raised  his  hunting 
spear  and  ran  to  meet  the  bear  and  thrust  its  point 
through  her  heart.  Callisto's  son  would  have 
killed  her  if  Jupiter  had  not,  just  then,  looked 
down  on  the  forest  from  his  throne  and  felt  a  sudden 
pity  for  the  tragedy  he  had  brought  about. 


284  WONDER  STORIES 

The  gods  had  made  a  long  road  in  the  sky  that 
led  to  the  palace  of  the  Sun.  Any  one  may  see 
this  road  on  a  clear  night,  for  it  stretches  across 
the  face  of  the  sky  and  is  known  as  the  Milky 
Way.  The  palaces  of  the  illustrious  gods  stood  on 
either  side  of  the  road  and  a  little  farther  back 
were  placed  the  homes  of  the  lesser  deities. 

At  the  very  moment  that  Areas,  his  spear  raised, 
rushed  upon  Callisto,  two  new  comers  appeared 
in  the  sky  near  the  road  of  the  gods.  They  had 
the  form  of  a  Great  Bear  and  a  Little  Bear,  but 
their  bodies  were  made  of  brightly  shining  stars. 
The  mighty  Jupiter  had  transformed  Callisto  and 
her  son  into  these  two  constellations. 

How  enraged  Juno  was  when  she  found  it  out! 
She  descended  to  the  sea  and  told  her  troubles 
to  Oceanus,  a  giant  of  the  race  of  Titans  who  ruled 
the  waters  at  that  time. 

"Do  you  wonder,  Oceanus,"  Juno  cried,  "why  I, 
the  queen  of  the  gods,  have  left  the  heavenly  plains 
and  seek  your  depths?  It  is  because  my  authority 
has  been  set  aside.  I  shall  be  supplanted  among 
my  fellow  gods,  for  Callisto,  the  bear,  has  been 
taken  up  to  the  skies  and  given  a  place  among  the 


WONDER  STORIES  285 

stars.    Who  can  deny  but  that  she  may  not  occupy 
my  throne  nextl" 

"What  would  you  have  me  do  about  it?"  old 
Oceanus  asked,  a  little  puzzled  as  to  why  Juno 
had  consulted  him. 

"I  forbade  Callisto  to  keep  her  human  form  and 
my  will  has  been  unjustly  set  aside,"  Juno  replied. 
"Now  that  she  has  an  abode  on  the  road  to  heaven 
she  will  be  able  to  take  any  form  she  desires  and 
may  come  to  you  for  help  in  her  attempt  to  steal 
my  throne.  I  command  you  to  never  allow  the 
stars  of  her  constellation  to  touch  the  waters." 

Oceanus  called  a  council  of  the  other  powers  of 
the  waters  and  they  assented  to  Juno's  decree. 
One  after  another  the  stars  rose  and  set,  touching 
the  sea  in  their  courses,  but  the  Great  Bear  and 
the  Little  Bear  moved  ceaselessly  round  and  round 
in  the  sky,  never  sinking  to  rest  as  the  other  stars 
did  beneath  the  ocean.  Juno  had  thought  that 
this  would  be  a  punishment  for  them  but  as  it 
turned  out  it  was  a  kind  of  reward. 

Because  the  Great  Bear  and  the  Little  Bear  were 
always  to  be  seen  in  their  changeless,  shining  course, 
people  who  were  obliged  to  travel  at  night,  and 


286  WONDER  STORIES 

particularly  those  who  were  at  sea,  grew  to  depend 
upon  them  as  a  means  of  finding  their  way  in  the 
darkness.  The  last  star  in  the  tail  of  the  Little 
Bear  indicated  the  north  and  was  known  after 
a  while  as  the  Pole  Star.  The  ancients  called  it 
also  the  Star  of  Arcadia,  for  it  helped  so  many 
mariners  to  find  their  way  home  across  the  perilous 
waters. 

It  had  happened  to  Juno,  as  it  often  happens  to 
jealous  people  to-day,  that  she  had  not  hurt  Callisto 
in  the  least  but  had  brought  her  a  great  deal  of 
honor. 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  GLAUCUS. 

Glaucus,  the  fisherman,  rubbed  his  eyes  to  find 
out  if  he  was  not  dreaming.  He  had  just  drawn  in 
his  net  to  land  and  had  emptied  it,  ready  to  sort 
the  fish  that  lay,  a  large  haul,  all  over  the  grass. 
But  a  strange  thing  was  happening  to  them.  Of  a 
sudden,  the  fishes  began  to  revive  and  move  their 
fins  exactly  as  if  they  were  in  the  water.  Then, 
as  Glaucus  looked  at  them  in  astonishment,  the 
fishes  one  and  all  moved  off  to  the  water,  plunged 
in,  and  swam  away. 

The  spot  where  Glaucus  fished  was  a  beautiful 
island  in  the  river,  but  a  solitary  place,  for  it 
was  inhabited  only  by  him.  It  was  not  used 
to  pasture  cattle  even,  or  visited  by  anyone.  No 
one  was  there  to  work  sorcery  with  his  haul. 
Glaucus  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  the  hap- 
pening. 

"Can  it  be  that  the  river-god  is  working  this 
marvel?"  he  wondered  to  himself.  Then  it  oc- 
curred to  him  that  there  might  be  some  secret  power 
287 


288  WONDER  STORIES 

in  the  thick  green  leaves  that  covered  the  island 
among  the  grasses. 

"What  may  not  be  the  power  of  this  herb?"  he 
asked  himself,  pulling  up  a  handful  of  the  leaves 
and  tasting  one. 

Scarcely  had  the  juices  of  the  plant  touched 
Glaucus'  tongue  than  a  strange  feeling  of  restless- 
ness filled  him,  and  he  was  overcome  by  an  uncon- 
querable thirst.  He  could  not  keep  away  from 
the  water  but  ran  to  the  edge  of  the  river  where 
he  had  fished  for  so  many  years,  plunged  in  and 
swam  away  toward  the  sea. 

It  was  a  wonderful,  free  kind  of  experience  for 
Glaucus  who  had  never  known  any  life  but  that  of 
hauling  in  his  nets  and  then  casting  them  again. 
As  he  followed  the  swiftly  flowing  currents,  the 
waters  of  a  hundred  rivers  flowed  over  him,  wash- 
ing away  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  fisherman, 
and  he  came  at  last  to  the  sea.  A  marvellous 
sight  met  him  there.  The  surf  that  beat  against  a 
rocky  shore  became  suddenly  smooth,  as  a  chariot 
drawn  by  horses  shod  with  brass  and  having  long 
floating  manes  of  gold  rolled  toward  Glaucus  over  the 
surface  of  the  sea.  A  giant  who  held  a  three-pointed 


WONDER  STORIES  289 

spear  for  crushing  rocks  and  blew  loud  trumpet 
blasts  from  a  great  curved  shell,  drove  the  chariot 
toward  Glaucus  and  then  stopped,  inviting  him  to 
ride  down  to  the  depths  of  the  ocean. 

It  was  Neptune,  the  god  of  the  sea,  and  Glaucus 
discovered  that  he  felt  quite  at  home  in  the  chariot. 
He  was  no  longer  a  dweller  of  the  earth,  but  had 
become  a  citizen  of  that  boundless  country  that 
lay  beneath  the  waves.  The  fisherman  was  com- 
pletely changed  in  form.  His  hair  was  sea  green 
and  trailed  behind  him  through  the  water.  His 
shoulders  broadened,  and  his  limbs  took  the  shape 
and  use  of  a  fish's  tail.  He  had  never  known  such 
freedom  and  joy  as  now  when  he  spent  whole  days 
doing  nothing  but  following  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the 
tides  and  learning  the  use  of  his  newly  found  fins 
as  a  bird  tries  its  wings  on  first  leaving  the  nest. 

But  Glaucus  still  retained  powers  of  thinking 
and  of  action  which  are  denied  the  inhabitants  of 
the  sea.  One  day  he  saw  the  beautiful  maiden, 
Scylla,  one  of  the  water  nymphs,  come  out  from 
a  sheltered  nook  on  the  shore  and  seat  herself  on 
a  rock,  dipping  her  hands  in  the  water  and  bring- 
ing up  sea-shells  for  twining  in  the  water  weeds 


290  WONDER  STORIES 

to  make  a  necklace.  Glaucus  had  never  seen  so 
fair  a  creature  as  Scylla  and  he  moved  toward  her 
through  the  waves,  rising  at  last  and  stopping  at 
the  place  where  she  sat  as  he  murmured  his  affec- 
tion for  her  above  the  singing  of  the  sea. 

But  Scylla  was  very  much  terrified  at  the  sight 
of  this  strange  personage,  half  youth  and  half 
fish.  She  turned  to  run  as  soon  as  she  saw  him 
and  did  not  stop  until  she  had  gained  a  cliff  that 
overlooked  the  sea.  Here  she  waited  for  a  moment 
and  turned  around  to  look  in  wonder  as  Glaucus 
raised  himself  upon  a  rock  and  the  sun  touched  his 
green  hair  and  scaly  covering  until  he  shone  in  its 
light.  He  called  to  Scylla. 

"Do  not  flee  from  me,  maiden!  I  am  no  monster 
or  even  a  sea-animal,  but  have  been  transformed 
from  a  poor  fisherman  to  a  god  of  the  sea."  Then 
Glaucus  told  Scylla  the  whole  story  of  his  amazing 
adventures  and  tried  to  describe  to  her  the  kingdom 
of  Neptune  with  its  playing  dolphins,  the  castles 
of  rose  colored  and  white  coral,  and  the  never  end- 
ing music  of  the  waters. 

"Come  with  me,  and  descend  to  Neptune's 
realm,"  he  begged,  but  Scylla  would  not  remain 


WONDER  STORIES  291 

to  even  listen.  She  fled  and  left  nothing  to  con- 
sole Glaucus  but  her  scattered  sea  shells  lying  in 
bright  heaps  on  the  rocks. 

Glaucus  did  not  pursue  Scylla  but  he  felt  that 
he  could  not  give  her  up.  He  remembered  the 
strange  charm  of  the  sea  that  there  had  been  in  the 
herbs  on  his  native  island,  and  he  wondered  if  he 
might,  by  chance,  find  some  such  power  for  giving 
the  nymph,  Scylla,  the  desire  for  the  sea  that  had 
drawn  him  to  Neptune's  kingdom.  But  Glaucus 
could  not  explore  his  little  fishing  island,  for  it  was  a 
long  way  off  and  he  had  forgotten  its  direction  even. 
So  he  made  what  proved  to  be  an  almost  disastrous 
decision.  He  set  out  for  the  island  of  Circe,  the 
enchantress,  to  ask  her  help  in  winning  Scylla. 

Circe  was,  in  the  beginning,  a  daughter  of  the 
sun  but  she  had  put  her  light  of  learning  to  wicked 
uses  and  had  made  herself  into  a  powerful  sorceress. 
She  lived  in  a  palace  embowered  with  trees  and 
those  were  the  only  signs  of  vegetation  on  her  island. 
But  if  a  shipwrecked  crew  came  up  the  shores,  hop- 
ing to  find  a  welcome  and  timber  for  building  a  new 
bark,  they  were  immediately  surrounded  by  lions, 
tigers  and  wolves  who  had  formerly  been  men 


292  WONDER  STORIES 

but  had  been  changed  by  Circe's  magic  to  the  form 
of  beasts. 

The  brave  hero  of  Greece,  Ulysses,  came  in  his 
travels  to  Circe's  isle  once,  and  his  crew  heard  the 
sounds  of  lovely  music  coming  from  the  castle  in 
the  trees  and  the  tones  of  a  maiden's  sweet  sing- 
ing. They  had  endured  the  raging  of  the  sea  and 
all  its  perils  for  many  days  and  they  hastened  to 
the  palace  where  Circe,  who  had  the  appearance 
of  a  princess,  greeted  them  and  ordered  a  feast  for 
them.  As  they  ate,  she  touched  them  one  by  one 
with  her  wand  and  the  men  were  all  changed  to 
swine.  They  kept  the  thoughts  of  men,  but  they 
had  the  head,  body,  voice  and  bristles  of  these 
despised  creatures,  and  Circe  shut  them  up  in  sties 
and  fed  them  with  acorns.  Ulysses  persuaded 
the  sorceress  to  release  his  men,  but  he,  the  hero, 
was  not  able  to  resist  her  charms  and  remained 
in  her  palace  a  year,  his  work  and  country  forgotten. 

Surely  Glaucus  was  setting  out  on  a  mad  errand 
when  he  decided  to  go  to  Circe.  But  he  persisted 
and  landed  on  her  island.  He  told  her  how  Scylla 
had  looked  upon  him  with  terror,  and  he  begged  to 
have  a  charm  by  means  of  which  he  might  make 


WONDER  STORIES  293 

Scylla  love  the  sea  as  the  herb  had  made  him  a 
subject  of  Neptune. 

"Sooner  shall  trees  grow  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean  and  sea  weed  on  the  mountain  peaks  than 
I  will  cease  to  love  Scylla  and  her  alone,"  Glaucus 
told  Circe. 

The  enchantress  looked  on  Glaucus  and  she 
began  to  admire  him  as  much  as  Scylla  had  been 
frightened  by  him.  He  was  really  quite  a  dis- 
tinguished looking  personage,  for  he  had  the  power 
to  take  on  human  form  when  he  wished,  and  his 
trailing  robes  of  green  seaweed  looked  almost 
kingly. 

"I  will  brew  a  potion  as  you  wish  with  my  own 
hands  and  carry  it  to  Scylla,"  Circe  told  Glaucus, 
but  she  had  decided  to  work  harm  on  the  innocent 
nymph  in  order  to  keep  Glaucus  forever  on  her 
island. 

Circe's  potion  was  mixed  of  the  most  poisonous 
plants  which  grew  on  her  island.  She  blended 
them  with  deadly  skill  and  then  took  her  way  to 
the  coast  of  Sicily  where  Scylla  lived.  There  was 
a  little  bay  on  the  coast  where  Scylla  loved  to  come 
in  the  middle  of  the  day  when  the  sun  was  high 


294  WONDER  STORIES 

to  bathe  in  the  cool  waters.  Circe  poured  her 
poison  into  the  clear  blue  bay  and  muttered  in- 
cantations of  mighty  power  over  it.  Then  she 
returned  to  her  island. 

Scylla  came  that  day  as  usual  when  the  sun  was 
high  and  plunged  into  the  waters  up  to  her  waist. 
What  was  her  horror  to  discover  that  she  was 
sinking  to  her  shoulders  and  then  to  her  head. 
The  waters  covered  her  before  anyone  heard  her 
frightened  calls  for  help  and  where  she  had  stepped 
so  happily  into  the  waters  which  she  loved,  there 
were  only  a  few  ripples  on  the  surface  of  the  bay 
and  soon  even  they  were  gone.  Circe's  charm 
had  taken  effect  and  the  lovable  Scylla  had  been 
carried  down  to  Neptune's  kingdom,  but  not  as 
Glaucus  had  desired,  for  she  was  without  motion 
or  sight  or  speech. 

Glaucus,  meanwhile,  forgot  Scylla  in  the  enchant- 
ment of  Circe's  island  and  remained  in  the  waters 
near  there,  taking  human  form  when  he  wished 
and  enjoying  the  luxuries  of  her  palace.  Perhaps 
he  might  never  have  remembered  that  he  was  a 
subject  of  Neptune  if  his  attention  had  not  been 
attracted  one  day  to  the  wild  beasts  which  prowled 


WONDER  STORIES  295 

about  the  island.  They  were  speaking  to  each 
other  with  the  voices  of  men  and  bewailing  the 
fate  by  which  they  had  been  led  there  from  their 
ships  and  brought  into  Circe's  power. 

Glaucus,  hearing  them,  understood  what  might 
be  in  store  for  him.  He  began  to  hate  the  powers 
of  the  wicked  enchantress  and  the  memory  came 
to  him  of  Scylla  as  she  had  appeared  to  him  on 
the  rock,  her  hands  full  of  bright  shells.  He  plunged 
into  the  water  and  was  soon  a  long  distance  from 
the  fatal  island. 

Glaucus  began  then  to  search  for  Scylla  through 
the  many  leagues  of  the  ocean  but  he  could  not 
find  her.  That  was  because  Scylla,  through  the 
design  of  Circe,  had  gone  down  as  mortals  do  and 
been  drowned.  The  sea  was  full  of  such,  and  as 
Glaucus  wandered  about  among  the  gardens  of 
sea  anemones  and  along  the  shell  strewn  roads  of 
Neptune's  kingdom,  he  felt  a  new  desire  in  his 
heart.  He  knew  how  those  mortals  felt  whose 
loved  ones  had  been  taken  away  from  them  by 
the  sea,  and  he  began  using  his  power  to  restore 
the  drowned  to  life  again.  For  a  thousand  years 
Glaucus  went  up  and  down  through  the  sea  restor- 


296  WONDER  STORIES 

ing  mortals  who  had  loved  to  each  other  again. 
And  in  all  his  following  of  the  tides  he  was  search- 
ing for  Scylla. 

After  a  thousand  years  had  passed  and  it  seemed 
to  the  gods  that  Glaucus  had  expiated  the  wrong 
he  had  done  in  appealing  to  Circe,  he  found  Scylla 
in  the  green  depths.  And  the  nymphs  say  that 
the  two  lived  always  happily  together  in  a  coral 
palace  with  a  sea  garden  of  anemones  and  green 
water  plants  all  about  it. 


THE  WINNING  OF  THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

Jason  was  having  a  boat  built  in  which  he  planned 
to  set  sail  on  a  kind  of  pirate  expedition.  He  was 
going  as  far  as  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Black  Sea 
to  try  and  capture  and  bring  home  the  Golden 
Fleece. 

This  golden  fleece  was  a  prize  indeed,  for  it  was 
a  good  deal  like  the  magic  carpet  in  a  fairy  tale. 
In  very  ancient  times  Mercury,  the  god  with  the 
winged  shoes,  had  given  the  queen  of  Thessaly  a 
ram  whose  fleece  was  of  pure  gold.  There  came 
a  time  when  the  queen  found  it  necessary  to  send 
her  son  away  from  the  kingdom  for  safety  as  quickly 
and  secretly  as  possible.  So  she  sent  him  on  the 
back  of  this  ram,  who  leaped  into  the  air,  crossed 
the  strait  that  divides  Europe  and  Asia,  and  landed 
the  boy  without  accident  in  Colchis  in  the  Black 
Sea. 

Ever  since  then  its  fleece  of  gold  had  hung  in  a 
sacred  grove  of  Colchis  guarded  by  a  dragon  who 
never  slept.  It  was  said  that  the  fleece  could 
297 


298  WONDER  STORIES 

carry  one  through  the  air  as  far  as  he  wished  to 
go,  and  its  gold  was  the  finest  and  purest  in  the 
world.  A  great  many  adventurers  had  equipped 
expeditions  for  getting  the  golden  fleece,  but  so 
far  none  of  them  had  been  successful.  Jason  had 
a  different  idea  about  it,  however,  than  any  youth 
of  Greece  who  had  set  out  for  the  fleece  before.  He 
felt  that  it  was  his  right,  in  a  way,  because  he  was 
going  to  be  a  king  if  he  could  bring  it  home. 

Jason's  uncle,  Pelias,  was  the  king  of  a  part  of 
Thessaly.  Because  the  golden  fleece  had  belonged 
in  Thessaly  in  the  first  place,  Pelias  had  an  idea 
that  any  king  in  Thessaly  who  could  get  it  might 
keep  it,  and  enjoy  its  magic  powers.  But  Pelias 
did  not  want  the  trouble  of  going  for  it.  He  was 
willing  to  give  up  his  throne  to  the  lad,  Jason,  if 
he  could  bring  the  golden  fleece  home.  And  Jason 
was  quite  willing  to  be  the  head  of  such  a  pirate 
expedition  with  the  promise  of  this  advantage  at 
the  end. 

Jason  did  not  even  build  his  ship,  but  paid  a  vast 
sum  of  money  to  have  it  done  for  him.  It  was  a 
stupendous  task  in  those  days  to  make  a  boat  that 
would  weather  a  sea  voyage.  About  the  only 


WONDER  STORIES  299 

boats  that  the  Greeks  had  were  small  ones  shaped 
like  canoes  and  hollowed  out  from  the  trunks  of 
trees.  Jason  had  decided  to  take  fifty  of  his  friends 
with  him,  and  that  meant  the  building  of  a  larger 
boat  than  had  ever  been  launched  before  from  Thes- 
saly.  A  gigantic  tree  had  to  be  cut  down  and  gouged 
and  shaped  by  hand.  New  looms  had  to  be  set 
working  to  weave  wide  enough  cloth  for  the  sails. 
For  months  the  sound  of  axes  and  chisels  echoed 
along  the  beach,  until  at  last  this  great  boat,  the 
Argo,  was  finished  and  launched,  and  Jason  brought 
his  friends,  whom  he  called  the  Argonauts,  to 
board  her. 

Jason  chose  his  crew  well.  They  were  all  fine, 
well  born  youths  of  Greece,  and  everyone  of  them 
made  a  name  for  himself  later  on.  Hercules  was 
of  the  Argonauts,  and  there  has  never  been  any 
such  strength  as  his.  There  was  Theseus,  who 
could  move  rocks  and  capture  robbers  single-handed. 
There  was  also  Orpheus,  the  son  of  Apollo,  who 
could  tame  wild  beasts  with  the  beautiful  music 
of  his  lyre.  Nestor,  who  grew  up  to  be  a  famous 
warrior  of  Greece,  went  with  them.  They  seated 
themselves  with  their  leader,  Jason,  in  the  ship,  a 


300  WONDER  STORIES 

whistling  breeze  filled  her  sails,  and  they  shot  swiftly 
before  the  wind  toward  Colchis. 

It  was  a  long  voyage,  but  they  reached  this  for- 
eign shore  with  no  serious  mishap,  leaped  onto  the 
bank,  and  went  at  once  to  the  king  of  Colchis,  de- 
manding from  him  the  golden  fleece.  The  Argo- 
nauts thought  in  the  pride  of  their  youth  that  no 
one  could  resist  them  or  refuse  them  anything,  but 
the  king  looked  serious  over  the  matter. 

"You  must  earn  the  fleece,  Jason,"  he  said. 
"Nothing  so  valuable  can  be  had  for  only  the 
asking.  Are  you  brave  enough  to  yoke  my  bulls 
to  a  plough  and  plant  a  field  full  of  dragon's 
teeth?" 

Jason  gasped.  He  knew  these  bulls  of  Colchis 
by  reputation,  although  it  had  never  occurred  to 
him  that  he  might  be  called  upon  to  harness  and 
drive  them.  They  had  brazen  teeth  and  breathed 
fire  from  their  nostrils  that  consumed  whatever  it 
touched.  The  sound  of  their  breathing  was  like 
the  roar  of  a  furnace,  and  the  smoke  of  their  breath 
was  suffocating. 

In  spite  of  his  fear,  though,  Jason  had  another 
thought.  The  king  had  said  that  the  fleece  must 


WONDER  STORIES  301 

be  earned,  that  nothing  so  golden  could  be  had 
for  the  asking.  That  was  really  true,  Jason  thought, 
and  he  began  to  feel  a  great  courage.  He  was 
growing  into  the  hero  that  he  always  had  been  at 
heart,  being  a  youth  of  Greece. 

"Send  out  your  bulls,"  he  said  to  the  king  of  Col- 
chis. 

Something  happened  then  that  is  very  apt  to 
happen  when  anyone  makes  up  his  mind  to  dare  a 
seemingly  impossible  deed.  Help  came  to  Jason. 
Medea,  the  daughter  of  the  king  of  Colchis,  gave 
Jason  a  charm  that  protected  him  from  fire.  The 
bulls  rushed  into  the  field  toward  Jason,  sending 
forth  their  burning  breath  like  dragons,  but  Jason 
advanced  boldly  to  meet  them.  His  friends,  the 
Argonauts,  watched  him  in  terror,  but  he  went 
straight  up  to  the  bulls  and  his  voice  seemed  to 
soothe  their  rage.  He  stroked  their  necks  fear- 
lessly, slipped  on  the  yoke  and  harnessed  them  to 
the  plough. 

Dragons'  teeth  were  a  strange  kind  of  seed  to 
plant.  As  Jason  ploughed  straight  furrows  and 
dropped  in  the  teeth,  the  people  of  the  kingdom 
and  the  Argonauts  gathered  at  the  edge  of  the 


302  WONDER  STORIES 

field  to  watch,  and  it  came  to  his  mind  that  per- 
haps the  king  was  making  a  joke  of  him.  There 
would  have  been  some  sense  in  having  that  pair 
of  fiery  bulls  use  their  great  strength  to  plough  in 
corn  and  wheat,  Jason  thought,  as  he  plodded  up 
and  down  the  field.  But  suddenly  a  cry  from  the 
crowd  startled  Jason  and  he  looked  back.  A  strange 
sight  met  his  eyes. 

The  clods  of  earth  that  covered  the  teeth  of 
the  dragon  began  to  stir,  and  the  bright  points  of 
spears  thrust  their  way  up  through  to  the  surface. 
Helmets  with  nodding  plumes  appeared  next,  and 
after  them  came  the  shoulders  and  arms  and  limbs 
of  men.  In  a  moment  the  field  was  alive  with 
armed  warriors  advancing  upon  Jason. 

He  was  only  one  hero  against  all  of  this  foe, 
but  the  sight  put  the  same  courage  that  had  come 
to  him  into  the  heart  of  each  one  of  the  Argonauts 
and  they  rushed  to  help  their  leader.  Jason  led 
valiantly  against  the  warriors,  but  there  would 
have  been  no  hope  for  him  and  the  Greeks  if  his 
courage  had  not  been  rewarded  a  second  time. 
Medea  sent  a  charmed  sword  to  the  hero.  He  threw 
it  into  the  ranks  of  the  warriors  and  they  suddenly 


WONDER  STORIES  303 

ceased  attacking  the  Greeks,  fell  to  fighting  among 
themselves,  and  were  destroyed. 

There  was  still  another  danger  for  Jason  to  face, 
the  dragon  who  guarded  the  fleece  with  eyes  that 
never  closed.  His  new  courage  was  equal  to  it. 
He  entered  the  grove  that  sheltered  the  golden 
fleece,  took  the  glittering  'blanket  from  the  oak  tree 
where  it  hung,  escaped  the  dragon  and  embarked 
with  the  Argonauts  for  the  return  trip  to  Greece. 

The  people  proclaimed  Jason  king  when  he  and 
the  rest  of  these  young  heroes  of  Greece  landed  in 
Thessaly.  They  chose  him  for  his  valor,  not  for 
his  spoils,  and  it  seemed  to  add  to  his  new  glory 
that  he  had  started  out  an  adventurer  and  re- 
turned a  victor  in  a  great  fight. 

The  strangest  part  of  the  story  is  that  no  one 
knows  what  became  of  the  golden  fleece  after  Jason 
and  the  Argonauts  brought  it  home  with  them.  No 
one  seems  to  have  ever  heard  of  it  again.  Per- 
haps even  such  a  treasure  as  that  was  grew  dull  and 
lost  its  value  in  comparison  with  the  golden  prize 
of  courage  in  achievement  that  the  Argonauts 
found  and  kept  all  the  rest  of  their  lives. 


MEDEA'S  CALDRON. 

If  a  boy  of  to-day  could  have  lived  in  the  days  of 
the  ancient  Greeks,  learning  by  means  of  self  re- 
straint and  all  the  arts  of  soldiery  to  be  a  hero  in 
warfare,  it  is  possible  that  his  captain  would  have 
told  him  a  strange  story  as  part  of  his  training. 
The  boy  would  have  wondered  why  he  had  to 
hear  such  a  grim  tale,  and  what  it  all  meant,  for  it  was 
one  of  the  myths  which  rivalled  almost  all  the 
rest  in  its  hidden  meaning.  It  was  the  story  of 
Medea,  the  dark  sorceress,  and  how  she  worked 
her  art  on  Aeson,  the  father  of  Jason. 

Jason  brought  Medea  home  to  Thessaly  with 
him  at  the  same  time  that  he  brought  the  fleece 
of  gold  whose  capture  had  been  his  great  adven- 
ture. She  was  the  princess  who  had  helped  him 
with  her  sorcery  to  brave  a  fire  breathing  dragon, 
but  she  was  ill  suited  to  the  court  of  Greece,  never 
having  taken  any  pleasure  in  the  arts  that  most 
maidens  delighted  in,  needlework,  weaving  and  the 
other  crafts  needful  in  making  a  home.  Instead 
304 


WONDER  STORIES  305 

Medea  was  wont  to  flee  from  the  feasts  and  the 
games  of  the  court  and  sit  by  herself  on  a  cliff 
beside  the  sea,  her  long  black  hair  blowing  about  her 
pale  face  and  her  lips  muttering  incantations  to 
the  wild  accompaniment  that  the  waves  sang. 

She  had  a  fondness  for  the  hero,  Jason,  though,  in 
her  own  strange  way,  and  pride  in  the  mighty  deeds 
he  had  dared.  She  heard  him  speak  one  day  of 
his  greatest  wish. 

'There  is  only  one  thing  lacking  in  my  triumph 
and  the  homage  that  the  nation  is  paying  me," 
Jason  told  Medea,  "I  would  that  my  father  were 
able  to  take  part  in  the  rejoicing  but  he  is  growing 
daily  more  feeble  and  helpless.  I  would  willingly 
give  enough  years  from  my  life  to  make  him  young 
and  strong  again." 

Medea  replied  nothing  in  answer  to  this  wish, 
but  to  herself  she  said, 

"My  power  has  been  mighty  in  the  aid  of  this 
hero  and  I  will  try  it  still  farther.  If  my  sorcery 
avails  me  anything,  the  life  of  Jason's  father  shall  be 
lengthened  without  the  cost  of  the  sacrifice  of  any 
of  the  youth's  own  years." 

So,  when  the  moon  was  next  in  the  full,  Medea 


306  WONDER  STORIES 

made  her  way  silently  and  alone  out  of  the  palace 
when  it  was  the  dead  of  night  and  all  creatures  slept. 
She  moved  swiftly  along  the  fields  and  groves  mur- 
muring strange  words  as  she  went,  and  addressing 
an  incantation  to  the  moon  and  to  the  stars.  There 
was  a  goddess,  named  Hecate,  who  was  supposed 
to  represent  the  darkness  and  terror  of  the  night 
as  Diana  represented  its  beauties.  At  dusk  she 
began  her  wandering  over  the  earth,  seen  only  by 
dogs  who  howled  at  her  approach.  Medea  fol- 
lowed Hecate,  imploring  her  help,  and  she  also 
called  to  Tellus,  that  goddess  of  the  earth  by  whose 
power  those  herbs  that  could  be  brewed  for  enchant- 
ment were  grown.  And  Medea  invoked  the  aid 
also  of  the  gods  of  the  woods  and  caverns,  of  valleys 
and  mountains,  of  rivers  and  lakes,  and  of  the 
winds  and  vapors. 

As  Medea  took  her  enchanted  way  through  the 
night,  the  stars  shone  with  an  unusual  brilliancy 
and  presently  a  chariot,  drawn  by  flying  serpents 
descended  to  meet  her  through  the  air.  Medea 
ascended  in  it  and  made  her  way  to  distant  regions 
where  the  most  powerful  plants  grew  and  brought 
them  back  before  the  day's  first  light  for  her  uses. 


WONDER  STORIES  307 

Nine  nights  Medea  rode  away  in  the  chariot  of  the 
flying  serpents,  and  in  all  that  time  she  did  not  go 
within  the  doors  of  her  palace  or  shelter  herself 
under  any  roof,  or  speak  to  a  human  being. 

Hebe  was  the  goddess  of  youth  and  one  of  the 
cup  bearers  of  the  gods.  When  Medea  had  gathered 
the  herbs  which  she  needed  for  her  potion,  she  built 
a  fire  in  front  of  a  nearby  temple  to  Hebe  and 
over  the  fire  she  hung  a  very  wide  and  deep  caldron. 
In  this  caldron  she  mixed  the  herbs  with  seeds 
and  flowers  that  gave  out  a  bitter  juice,  stones  from 
the  far  distant  east,  and  sands  from  the  encircling 
shore  of  the  ocean.  There  were  other  ingredients, 
also,  in  this  brew;  a  screech  owl's  head  and  wings, 
hoar  frost  gathered  by  moonlight,  fragments  of 
the  shells  of  tortoises  who  of  all  creatures  are  the 
most  long  lived,  and  the  head  and  beak  of  a  crow, 
the  birds  that  outlives  nine  generations  of  men. 

Medea  boiled  all  these  ingredients  together  to  get 
them  ready  for  the  deed  she  proposed  to  do,  stirring 
them  with  a  dried  branch  from  an  olive  tree.  And, 
strange  to  say,  the  branch  did  not  burn,  but  when 
the  sorceress  lifted  it  out  it  instantly  turned  as 
green  as  it  had  been  in  the  spring,  and  in  a  short 


308  WONDER  STORIES 

time  it  was  covered  with  leaves  and  a  luxuriant 
growth  of  olives.  The  potion  in  the  caldron  bubbled 
and  simmered  and  sometimes  rose  so  high  as  it 
boiled  that  it  spilled  over  the  edge  and  down  on 
the  ground.  But  wherever  the  drops  touched  the 
earth,  new  green  grass  shot  up  and  there  were 
flowers  as  bright  and  fragrant  as  the  most  prized 
blossoms  of  the  May. 

The  sorceress  wished  to  further  test  her  brew, 
though,  and  she  put  an  old  sheep,  one  of  the  most 
ancient  of  the  flock,  in  the  seething  potion.  In- 
stead of  being  cooked,  the  creature  was  quite  un- 
hurt and  when  Medea  removed  the  cover,  a  little 
new  lamb,  soft  and  white,  jumped  out  and  ran 
frisking  away  to  the  meadow. 

So  Medea  knew  that  her  spell  was  ready  and  she 
commanded  that  Jason  bring  his  aged  father, 
Aeson,  to  her. 

"I  would  like  to  know  him,"  she  explained,  "and 
hear  from  his  lips  of  the  deeds  you  did  in  your  youth." 

Then  Jason,  all  unsuspecting,  sent  for  his  father 
and  conducted  him  to  the  spot  near  the  temple  of 
Hebe  where  Medea  waited.  And  as  soon  as  she 
saw  Aeson,  Medea  threw  him  into  a  deep  sleep  by 


WONDER  STORIES  309 

means  of  a  charm  and  placed  him  on  a  bed  of  herbs 
where  he  lay  with  no  apparent  breath  or  life  in 
him. 

"Wicked  sorceress,  you  have  killed  my  father 
whom  I  so  greatly  loved,"  Jason  cried. 

Then,  even  as  he  spoke,  Medea  advanced  toward 
the  old  man  and  wounded  him  deeply,  so  that 
all  his  blood  poured  out.  After  this  she  dipped 
into  her  caldron  and  poured  the  charmed  brew  into 
Aeson's  mouth  and  bathed  his  wound  with  it. 

As  soon  as  he  had  imbibed  it  and  felt  its  wonder- 
ful power,  Aeson's  hair  and  beard  lost  their  white- 
ness and  became  as  black  as  they  had  been  in  his 
youth.  His  paleness  and  emaciation  disappeared, 
for  his  veins  were  full  of  new  blood  and  his  limbs 
were  vigorous  and  robust.  Aeson  was  amazed  at 
himself  as  he  ran  toward  Jason,  for  he  was  as  he 
remembered  himself  to  have  been  two  score  years 
before.  The  sorceress  Medea  had  made  his  years 
drop  away  from  him. 

It  would  be  very  pleasant  to  end  this  story  by 
saying  that  Medea  always  used  her  art  for  a  good 
purpose  as  she  did  in  this  case,  but  that  was  not 
what  happened.  She  did  all  manner  of  things 


310  WONDER  STORIES 

that  were  wrong,  such  as  riding  her  serpent-drawn 
chariot  in  the  pursuit  of  revenge,  sending  a  poisoned 
dress  to  a  bride,  and  setting  fire  to  a  palace.  What 
a  strange,  unusual  kind  of  a  story  is  this  one  of 
Medeal 

What  did  it  mean  to  the  young  Greeks  who  heard 
it? 

It  meant  for  them  just  what  it  means  for  us 
to-day.  Medea  and  her  caldron  signified  those 
times  of  cruel  war  and  change  that  come  to  every 
nation.  They  may  result  in  evil.  But  some- 
times, when  the  world  has  become  old  and  feeble, 
it  may  be  made  young  and  strong  again  through 
bitter  pains,  as  Aeson  was  made  young  through 
Medea's  caldron  of  such  bitter  brewing. 


HOW  A  GOLDEN  APPLE  CAUSED  A  WAR. 

No  one,  as  far  as  could  be  found  out,  had  invited 
Eris  to  the  party.  Indeed  everyone  would  have 
desired  to  keep  her  away,  for  it  was  a  very  great 
wedding  feast  attended  by  both  the  immortals  and 
men,  and  Eris  was  the  goddess  of  discontent. 

There  was  a  beautiful  nymph  of  the  sea  named 
Thetis  whom  even  Jupiter  had  looked  upon  with 
favor,  and  she  was  given  in  marriage  to  a  mortal, 
Peleus.  The  gathering  was  being  held  on  Mount 
Olympus  and  just  when  the  merrymaking  was 
at  its  height  and  Ganymede,  that  comely  Trojan 
youth  whom  Jupiter  in  the  guise  of  an  eagle  had 
borne  away  to  be  the  cupbearer  of  the  gods,  was 
offering  his  nectar  to  all,  a  golden  apple  fell  in  their 
midst. 

It  was  very  large  and  shone  and  glittered  as  if 
it  had  been  made  from  skin  to  core  of  precious  gold. 
Even  the  gods  scrambled  to  grasp  it,  and  for  a 
moment  they  did  not  see  who  had  thrown  it.  As 
Jupiter  held  the  apple,  though,  and  read  an  inscrip- 
311 


312  WONDER  STORIES 

tion  on  its  cheek,  "For  the  Fairest,"  the  guests 
had  a  flying  vision  of  Discord,  riding  away  in  her 
dark  chariot  from  the  feast  she  had  chosen  to 
make  bitter.  For  that  apple  was  to  be  the  be- 
ginning of  a  war  so  long  and  so  terrible  that 
there  had  never  been  any  other  to  equal  it 
through  all  the  centuries. 

At  once  the  goddesses  began  to  quarrel  among 
themselves  as  to  which  was  fair  enough  to  merit 
the  gilded  fruit.  Juno,  being  the  queen  of  the 
gods,  demanded  the  golden  apple  as  only  her  just 
due,  and  Minerva  wanted  it  in  addition  to  her 
treasure  of  wisdom.  They  appealed  to  the  mighty 
Jupiter,  but  neither  he  or  any  of  the  other  gods 
dared  to  decide  this  question  and  so  a  judge  had 
to  be  found  among  the  mortals  upon  earth. 

Near  the  city  of  Troy,  on  a  high  mountain  named 
Ida,  there  lived  a  young  shepherd,  Paris.  No 
one  but  the  gods  knew  the  secret  of  Paris'  royal 
birth.  He  had  been  left  on  Mount  Ida  when  he 
was  only  a  child  because  it  had  been  told  to  his 
parents  in  prophecy  that  he  would  be  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  kingdom  and  the  ruin  of  his  family. 
So  Paris,  all  unknowing  that  he  was  a  prince, 


Paris  and  the  Golden  Apple. 


WONDER  STORIES  313 

had  grown  up  among  his  flocks,  as  good  to  look 
upon  as  a  young  god  and  greatly  beloved  by  all 
the  hamadryads  and  nymphs  of  the  woods  and 
streams.  It  was  at  last  decided  that  the  shepherd 
Paris  should  be  the  judge  as  to  which  of  the  three 
goddesses,  Juno,  Minerva  or  Venus  merited  the 
apple  of  gold,  and  they  descended  in  clouds  of  glory 
to  Mount  Ida  and  stood  before  him  for  his  judgment. 

They  seemed  to  have  forgotten  their  heavenly 
birth  in  their  jealousy,  for  each  offered  the  young 
shepherd  a  bribe  if  he  would  declare  her  the  most 
fair.  Juno  offered  Paris  great  wealth  and  one  of 
the  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  Minerva  said  that 
she  would  grant  Paris  as  her  boon  a  share  of  her 
wisdom  and  invincible  power  in  war.  But  Venus, 
her  unmatched  beauty  dazzling  the  youth  as  the 
bright  rays  of  the  noontide  sun,  and  wearing  her 
enchanted  girdle,  a  spell  that  no  one  had  ever  been 
able  to  resist,  laid  her  hand  that  was  as  light  as 
sea-foam  on  Paris'  fast  beating  heart. 

"I  will  give  you  the  loveliest  woman  in  the  world 
to  be  your  wife,"  she  said. 

At  Venus'  words,  Paris  pronounced  his  judg- 
ment, which  has  never  been  forgotten  through  all 


314  WONDER  STORIES 

the  ages,  ringing  from  singer  to  singer  and  from 
nation  to  nation  in  the  great  strife  which  it  started. 
He  put  the  apple  of  gold  into  the  outstretched 
hands  of  Venus,  not  noticing  that  the  cloud  which 
carried  the  angry  Juno  and  Minerva  back  to  the 
sky  was  as  black  as  when  Jupiter  was  preparing  to 
throw  his  thunderbolts. 

Paris  saw  little  after  that  except  his  own  desires 
and  ambitions,  and  Venus  began  at  once  feeding 
his  vanity.  She  told  him  of  his  royal  birth.  He 
was  the  son  of  King  Priam  of  Troy.  So  Paris  set 
out  for  his  father's  kingdom  to  find  his  fortune,  and 
his  flocks  never  saw  him  again. 

Just  at  that  time  King  Priam  declared  a  contest 
of  wrestling  among  the  princes  of  his  court  and 
those  of  the  neighboring  kingdoms.  On  his  way 
to  Troy,  Paris  heard  of  this,  and  he  also  saw  the 
prize  being  led  toward  Troy  by  one  of  the  king's 
herdsmen.  It  was  the  finest  bull  to  be  found  on 
all  the  grazing  plains  of  Mount  Ida,  and  Paris 
decided  to  enter  the  contest  and  see  if  he  could 
not  win  it  for  himself.  So  Paris  presented  him- 
self to  the  court  at  Troy  and  wrestled  in  the  sight 
of  the  king  and  his  brothers  and  his  sister,  Cassandra, 


WONDER  STORIES  315 

who  did  not  know  him.  And  he  threw  all  his 
opponents,  and  was  proclaimed  the  victor. 

He  was  greeted  with  joy,  as  King  Priam  recog- 
nized him,  and  was  crowned  with  laurel.  Only 
Cassandra,  that  sorrowful  princess  to  whom  the 
gods  had  given  the  fatal  power  of  seeing  coming 
events,  wept  as  Paris  was  welcomed  at  the  throne 
of  his  father.  For  Cassandra  saw  Paris  as  the 
destruction  of  Troy,  and  her  gift  of  prophecy  was 
her  sadness,  because  she  was  doomed  never  to  be 
believed. 

Then  Venus  told  Paris  to  demand  a  ship  of  King 
Priam  and  set  sail  for  Sparta,  in  Greece,  that  her 
promise  to  him  might  be  fulfilled.  Paris  set  out, 
a  wondrous  appearing  youth  and  a  glorious  victor, 
and  he  was  well  received  by  King  Menelaus  and  his 
fair  wife,  Helen. 

If  Venus'  beauty  cast  a  spell  among  the  gods,  so 
did  the  loveliness  of  Helen  blind  the  eyes  of  men  to 
everything  save  her  lovely  face.  There  was  a 
story  told  that  Helen  was  the  child  of  an  enchanted 
swan  and  that  this  was  the  reason  for  the  enchant- 
ment which  she  wrought  in  the  hearts  of  the  heroes. 
All  the  great  princes  of  Greece  had  sued  for  Helen's 


316  WONDER  STORIES 

hand,  and  when  she  left  her  home  to  be  the  wife  of 
Menelaus,  her  father  made  the  heroes  bind  them- 
selves by  oath  to  go  to  the  aid  of  Menelaus  if  it 
should  chance  that  she  was  ever  stolen  away  from 
him.  Helen's  father  was  fearful  for  her  peace, 
because  of  the  perilous  gift  of  charm  which  was 
hers.  In  all  of  Greece,  and  indeed  in  the  entire 
world  there  was  nothing  so  beautiful  as  Helen's 
fair  face. 

For  a  long  time  Paris  remained  at  the  court  of 
Sparta  treated  with  a  courtesy  and  respect  which 
he  did  not  deserve,  because  during  all  that  time 
Venus  was  enchanting  Helen  until  she  was  able  to 
think  of  no  one  save  the  comely  youth,  Paris.  After 
awhile  King  Menelaus  was  obliged  to  take  a  long 
journey  and  in  his  absence  Paris  persuaded  Helen 
to  forsake  Sparta  and  set  sail  with  him  for  Troy. 

When  these  two  were  discovered  in  their  treach- 
ery, the  heroes  were  fired  with  anger  and  remem- 
bered their  pledge  to  go  to  King  Menelaus'  aid 
if  any  deep  wrong  was  done  to  him.  Their  wrath 
was  not  so  much  directed  against  Helen,  whom 
they  believed  to  be  under  the  dread  spell  which 
Venus  had  cast  upon  her,  as  against  Paris  who 


WONDER  STORIES  317 

had  so  violated  their  hospitality.  It  was  decided 
that  preparations  for  war  must  be  immediately 
begun  and  men  were  pressed  into  service  every- 
where gathering  supplies  and  building  ships.  Aga- 
memnon, who  was  a  brother  of  King  Menelaus  and 
mighty  in  battle,  was  appointed  to  be  the  leader 
of  the  Greek  army,  and  then  began  the  work  of 
finding  the  best  men  to  help  him  in  carrying  on 
the  great  enterprise  that  was  to  be  directed  against 
Troy. 

The  heroes  were  as  true  and  of  as  high  courage 
then  as  they  are  to-day,  but  the  adventure  of  the 
war  was  to  be  directed  against  a  foreign  shore  and 
certain  of  the  Greeks  found  that  it  tore  their  hearts 
to  leave  their  own  country,  and  in  the  cause  of  a 
wilful  youth  and  a  fair  woman.  One  among  these 
was  Ulysses,  the  king  of  Ithaca. 

Ulysses  was  content  and  happy  in  his  peaceful 
kingdom  and  the  love  of  his  industrious  queen, 
Penelope,  and  his  baby  son,  Telemachus.  We 
must  not  commit  Ulysses  to  the  sin  of  cowardice 
because  he  did  not  want  to  enlist  for  the  Trojan  war. 
There  have  been  heroes  like  him  in  all  time,  destined 
to  be  the  greatest  warriors  of  all,  when  they  over- 


318  WONDER  STORIES 

came  their  fears  and  took  swords  in  their  hands 
in  the  cause  of  right.  But  at  first  Ulysses  pre- 
tended that  he  had  lost  his  reason.  He  borrowed 
a  plough  from  a  farmer  and  drove  it  up  and  down 
the  seashore,  sowing  salt  in  the  furrows  that  he 
made.  Ulysses  was  pursuing  this  mad  occupation 
when  a  messenger  of  Agamemnon  came  to  demand 
his  services  in  the  army  of  the  Greeks.  The  mes- 
senger could  not  believe  his  eyes,  and  to  test  Ulysses 
he  grasped  the  king's  little  son  and  laid  him  on  the 
sand  in  the  direct  path  of  the  plough-share. 
Ulysses  dropped  the  plough  handles  and  lifted  the 
baby  Telemachus  to  his  heart,  so  his  game  of  mad- 
ness was  over.  He  bade  his  kingdom  and  Pene- 
lope farewell,  and  set  out  to  join  the  heroes.  He 
was  to  be  one  of  the  bravest  of  them  all,  and 
doomed  not  to  see  his  own  land  again  for  twenty 
years. 

There  was  also  a  hero,  a  wonder  of  strength,  who 
was  detained  from  the  war  because  of  the  very 
great  love  that  his  mother  had  for  him.  This  was 
Achilles,  who  was  destined  to  be  the  noblest  hero 
of  Greece  in  the  contest  with  the  Trojans.  When 
he  was  a  baby,  Achilles'  mother  had  taken  him 


WONDER  STORIES  319 

to  the  river  Styx  and,  holding  him  by  one  little 
heel,  had  plunged  him  in  its  sacred  waters.  This 
made  him  safe  from  any  harm  that  might  come 
to  him  in  battle,  although  she  forgot  the  heel  which 
she  had  covered  with  her  hand.  Then  the  mother 
of  Achilles  sent  him  to  friends  in  a  far  kingdom 
in  the  dress  of  a  girl  and  he  was  brought  up  there 
among  women  so  that  he  could  not  be  called  to 
arms. 

At  this  time,  when  the  Greeks  were  polishing 
their  shields  and  fastening  on  their  swords  for  the 
advance  upon  Troy,  news  of  Achilles'  cowardly 
hiding  came  to  Ulysses.  He  who  had  overcome  his 
own  fear  could  not  bear  to  have  any  other  hero 
fall  a  victim  of  cowardice.  So  Ulysses  disguised 
himself  as  a  vendor  of  fine  wares,  scents  and  em- 
broidered silks,  carved  ivory  ornaments  and  jewels, 
and  he  went  to  the  kingdom  where  Achilles,  now 
a  youth,  sojourned  in  the  disguise  of  a  maiden. 
The  women  of  the  court  seized  with  the  greatest 
delight  the  fine  fabrics  and  necklaces  from  Ulysses' 
store,  but  Achilles  delved  in  the  packet  of  goods 
until  his  eyes  lighted  upon  some  strange  and  beau- 
tifully wrought  weapons  which  Ulysses  had  brought 


320  WONDER  STORIES 

also.  These  alone  pleased  him.  So  the  destiny 
of  Achilles  was  disclosed  and  he  put  on  armor  and 
went  with  Ulysses  to  join  the  army. 

In  the  meantime  King  Priam  had  welcomed  the 
erring  Paris  and  Helen,  so  great  was  the  charm  that 
her  fair  face  wrought  everywhere,  and  had  given 
them  the  shelter  of  his  court.  It  was  a  sore  trial 
to  the  heroes  of  Troy  that  this  should  have  hap- 
pened, for  they  were  as  bold  and  upright  men  in 
their  way  as  the  Greeks  were,  and  had  not  deserved 
this  shame  that  had  come  upon  them.  But  they, 
too,  were  banded  together  to  protect  their  king 
and  so  they  made  all  the  needful  preparations  to 
meet  the  forces  of  the  enemy  when  the  Greeks 
should  cross  the  sea. 

Since  this  great  war  had  begun  in  the  jealousy 
of  the  gods,  the  gods  themselves  took  part  in  the 
struggle.  Neptune  carried  the  ships  of  the  Greeks 
safely  over  to  the  plains  of  Troy  where  Ulysses 
accompanied  King  Menelaus  into  the  city  to  de- 
mand the  return  of  Helen.  When  King  Priam 
refused,  Venus  endeavored  to  keep  Helen  in  her 
power  and  she  enlisted  Mars  on  the  side  of  the  Tro- 
jans. Juno  favored  the  Greeks,  as  did  also  Minerva, 


WONDER  STORIES  321 

the  goddess  of  just  warfare,  and  Apollo  and  Jupiter 
watched  over  the  fate  of  those  of  the  heroes  whom 
they  loved,  no  matter  on  which  side  they  fought. 
So  the  Trojan  war  began,  but  how  it  ended  is  a 
story  of  a  strange  horse  made  all  of  wood. 


HOW  A  WOODEN  HORSE  WON  A  CITY. 

Ten  years  the  siege  of  Troy  lasted,  that  mighty 
struggle  that  had  been  kindled  by  the  flame  of 
jealousy  of  gods  and  men,  and  ten  years  the  Tro- 
jans resisted  the  Greeks.  On  both  sides  the  brave 
fell  in  battle  and  the  plain  outside  of  the  city  of 
Troy  became  a  waste  place,  full  of  dread  and  death. 

The  hero  Achilles,  while  offering  up  a  sacrifice 
in  the  temple  of  Apollo,  was  treacherously  slain 
by  a  poisoned  arrow  from  Paris'  bow  that  pierced 
his  heel.  The  Greeks  made  use  of  the  arrows  of 
Hercules  in  their  struggle,  but  even  these  proved 
useless  against  the  strong  fortifications  of  the  Tro- 
jans. There  was  a  statue  of  Minerva  in  the  city 
of  Troy  called  the  Palladium.  It  was  said  to 
have  fallen  from  heaven  and  that  as  long  as  it  re- 
mained in  the  city  Troy  could  not  be  taken.  So 
the  hero,  Ulysses,  with  a  few  men,  entered  Troy 
in  disguise  and  captured  this  statute  at  the  risk 
of  their  lives,  carrying  it  back  to  the  camp  of  the 
Greeks,  but  Troy  still  held  out  and  the  tenth  year 


WONDER  STORIES  323 

of  the  war  drew  near  a  close  full  of  wretchedness 
and  famine. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  spell  of  Helen's  beauty,  as  she 
leaned  from  one  of  the  towers  of  King  Priam's 
castle  to  cheer  the  Trojans  or  descended  to  pass 
among  their  ranks,  was  their  safety.  No  one, 
looking  on  her  fair  face,  remembered  hardship  or 
felt  fear,  although  the  fated  Cassandra  wept  alone, 
and  was  deemed  mad  because  she  saw,  in  her  pro- 
phetic vision,  the  fall  of  the  strong  battlements 
of  Troy. 

At  last  the  Greeks  despaired  of  ever  subduing 
Troy  by  force  and  they  asked  Ulysses  if  any  plan 
occurred  to  him  by  which  they  could  subdue  the 
Trojans  through  strategy.  Ulysses  unfolded  a  plan 
to  the  generals,  and  what  it  was  and  how  it  suc- 
ceeded is  one  of  the  strangest  stories  of  all  war- 
fare. Acting  upon  his  advice,  the  Greeks  made 
preparation  to  abandon  the  war.  Their  ships 
that  had  waited  with  folded  sails  in  the  harbor, 
now  drew  anchor  and  sailed  swiftly  away,  taking 
refuge  behind  a  neighboring  island.  And  the 
Trojans,  seeing  the  encampment  before  their  walls 
broken  for  the  first  time  in  so  many  years,  and  the 


324  WONDER  STORIES 

plain  that  the  enemy's  tents  had  whitened  clear, 
broke  into  joy  and  merrymaking  such  as  they  had 
not  known  for  so  long.  They  forgot  caution  and 
opened  the  gates  through  which  the  men  and 
women  and  children  flocked  out  to  the  plain  to 
make  merry  and  exult  over  the  defeat  of  the  Greeks. 

There  they  saw  an  astounding  thing.  In  the 
centre  of  the  plain  stood  a  great  wooden  image  of 
a  horse,  like  an  idol,  more  prodigious  than  any 
which  the  Trojans  had  ever  seen.  It  was  so  closely 
fitted  and  carved  from  its  mammoth  hoofs  to  its 
head  that  no  one  could  detect  the  joining.  A 
hundred  men  could  have  ridden  the  horse  with  room 
for  more,  but  they  would  never  have  been  able  to 
climb  up  to  its  back.  At  first  the  people  of  Troy, 
gathering  around  the  wooden  horse,  were  afraid 
of  it.  Then  they  made  up  their  minds  about  it. 

"This  is  a  trophy  of  warl"  they  exclaimed,  and 
they  were  for  moving  it  into  the  city  to  exhibit  in 
the  public  square  as  a  sign  of  their  victory  over 
the  Greeks. 

There  was  among  them,  though,  a  man  named 
Laocoon,  a  priest  of  Neptune,  who  objected  to 
this  plan. 


WONDER  STORIES  325 

"Beware,  men  of  Troy!"  Laocoon  warned  them. 
"You  have  fought  for  ten  years  with  the  Greeks 
and  know  that  they  do  not  give  up  a  fight  as  easily 
as  this.  How  do  you  know  but  that  this  is  a  piece 
of  trickery  on  the  part  of  their  dauntless  leader, 
Ulysses?  I  fear  the  Greeks,  even  when  they  bring 
us  gifts." 

As  Laocoon  uttered  these  prophetic  words,  he 
threw  his  lance  at  the  side  of  the  wooden  horse 
and  it  rebounded  with  a  hollow  sound.  At  that, 
perhaps  the  Trojans  might  have  taken  his  advice 
and  destroyed  the  horse  there  where  it  stood, 
but  suddenly  a  man,  who  appeared  to  be  a  pris- 
oner and  a  Greek,  was  dragged  out  from  the 
crowd. 

He  said  that  he  was  a  Greek,  Sinon  by  name, 
who  had  brought  upon  himself  the  malice  of  Ulysses 
and  so  had  been  left  behind  by  the  Greeks.  He 
feigned  terror,  and  the  Trojans,  falling  into  the 
trap,  reassured  Sinon,  the  spy,  and  told  him  that 
his  life  would  be  spared  if  he  would  disclose  to 
the  chiefs  of  Troy  the  secret  of  the  wooden  horse. 

"It  is  an  offering  to  Minerva,"  Sinon  explained. 
"The  Greeks  made  it  so  huge  in  order  that  you 


326  WONDER  STORIES 

would  never  be  able  to  carry  it  inside  the  gates  of 
Troy." 

Sinon's  words  turned  the  tides  of  the  people's 
feelings.  They  were  just  planning  how  they  might 
best  start  the  work  of  moving  the  giant  horse  when 
something  happened  which  completely  reassured 
them.  Two  immense  serpents  appeared  advanc- 
ing directly  toward  them  over  the  sea.  Side  by 
side  they  moved  toward  the  shore,  their  great  heads 
erect,  their  burning  eyes  full  of  blood  and  fire  and 
licking  their  hissing  mouths  with  their  quivering 
tongues.  And  these  serpents  came  directly  to  the 
spot  where  Laocoon  stood  with  his  two  sons. 

They  attacked  the  boys  first,  winding  round  their 
bodies  and  breathing  their  poisonous  breath  into 
their  faces.  Laocoon,  trying  to  rescue  his  sons, 
was  drawn  into  the  serpent's  coils  and  all  three 
were  strangled.  Then  the  creatures  moved  on, 
threatening  to  glide  into  the  city  of  Troy. 

"It  is  an  omen  of  the  displeasure  of  the  gods 
with  us  for  having  even  doubted  the  sacred  charac- 
ter of  the  wooden  horse,"  the  Trojans  said.  "Lao- 
coon has  been  punished  for  his  lack  of  reverence 
in  despising  it." 


WONDER  STORIES  327 

So  they  gave  themselves  up  again  to  wild  joy 
and  reckless  merrymaking.  They  wreathed  the 
horse  with  garlands  of  flowers  and  dragged  it,  all 
lending  a  hand,  across  the  plain  and  close  to  the 
gates  of  the  city  so  that  they  could  widen  them  in 
the  morning  and  push  it  through;  and  they  went 
home  with  great  shouts  like  those  of  a  victoriously 
returning  army. 

That  night  a  door,  cunningly  set  and  concealed 
in  the  side  of  the  wooden  horse,  was  opened  by 
Sinon,  the  spy.  Out  of  the  door  came  the  hero 
Ulysses,  King  Menelaus,  and  a  band  of  picked  Greek 
generals,  for  the  Greeks  had  made  the  wooden 
horse  hollow  so  that  a  hundred  men  might  be 
hidden  inside  for  a  long  time  with  their  arms  and 
provisions  and  come  to  no  harm.  These  men 
opened  the  gates  of  Troy,  a  city  sunk  in  darkness 
and  sleep,  and  through  the  gates  went  the  Grecian 
army  which  had  returned  in  the  ships  and  crossed 
the  plain  silently  in  the  cover  of  the  night. 

So  the  prophecy  of  Laocoon  and  of  the  sad  Cas- 
sandra was  proved  true,  for  there  was  not  a  Trojan 
on  guard.  King  Priam  and  his  noblest  warriors 
were  killed,  Cassandra  was  taken  captive,  and  the 


328  WONDER  STORIES 

city  was  set  on  fire  with  torches  and  burned  to 
the  ground. 

Then  the  Greeks  set  sail  for  their  own  country 
which  they  had  not  seen  for  so  many  years,  and 
they  took  the  beautiful  Helen  with  them,  awakened 
at  last  from  the  spell  which  Venus  had  cast  upon 
her,  and  sorrowing  for  all  the  suffering  she  had 
caused. 

But  the  glory  of  the  old  Trojan  days  was  gone 
forever.  Men  search  to-day  the  ruins  of  ancient 
Troy  that  lie  hidden  like  bright  jewels  in  the  depths 
of  the  ancient  mountains.  There  is  little  left  but 
the  memory  of  the  apple  of  Discord  that  caused  the 
destruction  of  the  city  and  the  heroes  and  the 
citadel  of  Troy's  old  power. 


THE  CYCLOPS. 

The  hero  Ulysses  was  about  to  sail  home  to 
Greece,  after  the  great  city  of  Troy  had  been  taken, 
having  wandered  farthest  and  suffered  most  of 
all  in  the  long  Trojan  war. 

He  was  well-nigh  the  last  to  sail,  for  he  had 
tarried  many  days  to  do  homage  to  Agamemnon, 
lord  of  all  the  Greeks.  Twelve  ships  he  had  with 
him,  twelve  that  he  had  brought  to  Troy,  and  in 
each  there  were  some  fifty  men,  being  scarce  half 
of  those  that  had  sailed  with  them  in  the  old  days, 
so  many  valiant  heroes  slept  the  last  sleep  on  the 
plain  and  on  the  seashore,  slain  in  battle  or  by  the 
shafts  of  Apollo. 

So  first  Ulysses  sailed  to  the  Thracian  coast 
where  he  and  his  men  filled  their  ships  with  food- 
stuffs and  oxen  and  jars  of  fragrant  juices  of  the 
grape.  Scarcely  had  he  set  out  again  when  the 
wind  began  to  blow  fiercely,  and  seeing  a  smooth 
sandy  beach,  they  drove  the  ships  to  shore,  dragged 

*  Copyright  Doubleday,  Page  and  Co. 

329 


330  WONDER  STORIES 

them  out  of  reach  of  the  waves,  and  waited  there 
until  the  storm  should  abate.  And  the  third  morn- 
ing, being  fair,  they  sailed  again,  and  journeyed 
prosperously.  On  the  tenth  day  they  came  to 
the  land  where  the  lotus  grows,  a  wonderful  fruit 
which  whoever  eats  cares  not  to  see  country,  home, 
or  children  again. 

Now  the  Lotus  eaters,  for  so  they  call  the  people 
of  the  land,  were  a  kindly  folk  and  gave  of  the 
fruit  to  some  of  the  sailors,  not  meaning  any  harm, 
but  thinking  it  to  be  the  best  that  they  had  to 
give.  These  men,  when  they  had  eaten,  said  that 
they  would  not  sail  any  more  over  the  sea.  Which 
when  the  wise  Ulysses  heard,  he  bade  their  com- 
rades bind  them  and  carry  them,  sadly  complain- 
ing, to  the  ships. 

Then,  the  wind  having  abated,  they  took  to 
their  oars  and  rowed  for  many  days  until  they 
came  to  the  country  where  the  Cyclops  lived.  A 
mile  or  so  from  the  shore  there  was  an  island,  very 
fair  and  fertile,  but  no  man  dwelled  there  or  tilled 
the  soil,  and  in  the  island  there  was  a  harbor  where 
a  ship  might  be  safe  from  all  winds  and  at  the  head 
of  the  harbor  was  a  stream  falling  from  the  rock 


WONDER  STORIES  331 

with  whispering  alders  all  about  it.  Into  this  the 
ships  passed  safely  and  were  hauled  upon  the  beach 
and  the  crews  slept  by  them,  waiting  for  morning. 

But  in  the  morning  Ulysses,  who  was  always 
fond  of  adventure  and  would  know  of  every  land 
to  which  he  came  what  manner  of  men  it  sheltered, 
took  one  of  his  twelve  ships  and  bade  the  sailors 
row  to  land.  There  was  a  great  hill  sloping  to 
the  shore,  and  there  rose  up,  here  and  there,  a 
smoke  from  the  caves  where  the  Cyclopes  lived 
apart,  holding  no  converse  with  men.  They  were 
a  rude  and  savage  folk,  each  ruling  his  own  house- 
hold without  taking  thought  of  his  neighbor. 

Very  close  to  the  shore  was  one  of  these  caves, 
very  huge  and  deep,  with  a  hedge  of  laurel  hiding 
the  opening  and  a  wall  of  rough  stone  shaded  by  tall 
oaks  and  pines.  Ulysses  selected  the  twelve  bravest 
men  from  his  crew  and  bade  the  rest  remain  behind 
to  guard  the  ship  while  he  went  to  see  what  manner 
of  dwelling  it  was  and  who  abode  there.  He  had 
his  sword  by  his  side  and  on  his  shoulder  a  mighty 
skin  of  the  juice  of  grapes,  sweet  smelling  and 
strong,  with  which  he  might  win  the  heart  of  some 
fierce  savage,  should  he  chance  to  meet  such. 


332  WONDER  STORIES 

So  they  entered  the  cave,  and  judged  that  it 
was  the  dwelling  of  some  rich  and  skilful  shepherd, 
for  within  there  were  pens  for  young  sheep  and 
goats,  divided  according  to  their  age,  and  there 
were  baskets  full  of  cheeses,  and  full  milk  pails 
ranged  along  the  wall.  But  the  Cyclops,  himself, 
was  away  in  the  pastures.  Then  the  companions  of 
Ulysses  besought  him  to  depart,  but  he  would  not, 
for  he  wished  to  see  what  manner  of  host  this  strange 
shepherd  might  be.  And  truly  he  saw  to  his  cost  I 

It  was  evening  when  the  Cyclops  came  home,  a 
mighty  giant,  twenty  feet  or  more  tall.  He  carried 
a  vast  bundle  of  pine  logs  on  his  back  for  his  fire, 
and  threw  them  down  outside  the  cave  with  a  great 
crash.  He  drove  the  flocks  inside  and  closed  the 
entrance  with  a  huge  rock  which  twenty  wagons 
and  more  could  not  have  borne.  Then  he  milked 
the  ewes  and  goats,  and  half  of  the  milk  he  curdled 
for  cheese  and  half  he  set  ready  for  himself  when  he 
should  be  hungry.  Last,  he  kindled  a  fire  with 
the  pine  logs  and  the  flame  lighted  up  all  the  cave, 
showing  him  Ulysses  and  his  comrades. 

"Who  are  you?"  cried  the  Cyclops.  "Are  you 
traders,  or  pirates?" 


WONDER  STORIES  333 

"We  are  no  pirates,  mighty  sir,  but  Greeks,  sail- 
ing back  from  Troy.  And  we  beg  hospitality  of 
you  in  the  name  of  Jupiter  who  rewards  or  punishes 
the  host  according  as  he  is  hospitable  or  not." 

"Then,"  said  the  giant,  "it  is  idle  to  talk  to 
me  of  Jupiter  and  the  gods.  We  Cyclops  take  no 
account  of  gods,  holding  ourselves  to  be  much 
better  and  stronger  than  they."  Without  more 
ado,  he  caught  up  two  of  the  men,  and  devoured 
them  with  huge  draughts  of  milk  between,  leaving 
not  even  a  morsel  or  one  of  their  bones.  And 
when  the  giant  had  ended  his  meal,  he  lay  down 
among  his  sheep  and  fell  asleep. 

Ulysses  would  have  liked  to  slay  the  Cyclops 
where  he  lay,  but  he  remembered  that,  were  he  to  do 
this,  his  comrades  would  perish  miserably.  How 
could  he  move  away  the  great  rock  that  lay  against 
the  door  of  the  cave?  So  they  waited  until  morn- 
ing. And  the  monster  rose,  seized  two  more  men 
and  devoured  them  for  his  meal.  Then  he  went 
to  the  pastures,  but  put  a  great  rock  on  the  mouth 
of  the  cave  just  as  a  man  puts  down  the  lid  on  his 
quiver  of  arrows. 

All  that  day  the  wise  Ulysses  was  thinking  what 


WONDER  STORIES 


he  might  best  do  to  save  himself  and  his  compan- 
ions, and  the  end  of  his  thinking  was  this.  There 
was  a  mighty  pole  in  the  cave,  green  wood  of  an 
olive  tree  as  big  as  a  ship's  mast,  which  the  giant 
proposed  to  use  as  a  walking  staff.  Ulysses  broke 
off  a  fathom's  length  of  this  and  his  companions 
pointed  it  and  hardened  it  in  the  fire.  Then  they 
hid  it  away. 

At  evening  the  giant  came  back,  drove  his  flocks 
into  the  cave,  fastened  the  door  and  made  his  cruel 
feast  as  before.  Then  Ulysses  came  forward  with 
the  skin  of  crushed  grapes  in  his  hand  and  said: 

"Drink,  Cyclops,  now  that  you  have  feasted. 
Drink  and  see  what  a  strange  draught  we  had  in 
our  ship." 

So  the  Cyclops  drank,  and  was  greatly  pleased. 

"Give  me  more,"  he  demanded.  "In  good  truth 
this  is  a  strange  draught.  We,  too,  have  vines 
but  they  do  not  yield  any  juices  like  this,  which 
indeed  must  be  such  as  the  gods  drink." 

Then  Ulysses  gave  him  the  skin  again  and  he 
drank  from  it.  Three  times  he  gave  it  to  him  and 
three  times  the  giant  drank,  not  knowing  how  it 
would  work  on  his  brain.  At  last  he  fell  into  a 


WONDER  STORIES  335 

deep  slumber.  Ulysses  told  his  men  to  be  of  good 
courage  for  the  time  of  their  deliverance  was  come. 

They  thrust  the  olive  stick  into  the  fire  until, 
green  as  it  was,  it  was  ready  to  burst  into  flame 
and  they  thrust  it  into  the  monster's  eye,  for  he 
had  but  one  eye  set  in  the  middle  of  his  great  fore- 
head, and  made  him  sightless. 

Then  the  Cyclops  leaped  up  and  bore  away  the 
stake  and  cried  aloud  so  that  all  the  Cyclopes  who 
lived  on  the  mountain  side  heard  him  and  came 
down,  crowding  about  the  entrance  to  his  cave. 
The  Cyclops  rolled  away  the  great  stone  from  the 
door  of  the  cave  and  came  out  in  the  midst  of 
the  other  giants  stretching  out  his  hands  to  try  and 
gather  his  sheep  together.  And  Ulysses  wondered 
how  he  and  his  men  would  be  able  to  escape. 

At  last  he  lighted  on  a  good  device.  The  Cyclops 
had  driven  the  rams  with  the  other  ship  into  the 
cave  and  they  were  huge  and  strong.  Ulysses  fas- 
tened his  comrades  underneath  the  rams,  tying 
them  with  osier  twigs  of  which  the  giant  made  his 
bed.  There  was  one  mighty  ram,  far  larger  than 
all  the  others,  and  to  this  Ulysses  clung,  grasping 
the  fleece  tight  with  both  hands.  So  they  waited  in 


336  WONDER  STORIES 

the  recesses  of  the  cave  for  morning.  And  when 
the  morning  came,  the  rams  rushed  out  to  pasture  as 
the  giant  sat  in  the  door,  feeling  the  back  of  each 
as  it  went  by,  but  never  touching  the  man  who 
was  bound  underneath  each.  With  them  Ulysses 
escaped. 

When  they  were  out  of  reach  of  the  giant,  Ulysses 
loosed  his  hold  of  the  rams  and  then  unbound  his 
comrades.  They  hastened  to  their  ship,  climbed  in, 
and  smote  the  sea  with  their  oars,  laying  to  right 
lustily  that  they  might  the  sooner  escape  from  this 
accursed  land.  But  when  they  had  rowed  a  hundred 
yards  or  so,  the  Cyclops  heard  them.  He  broke 
off  the  top  of  a  great  hill,  a  mighty  rock,  and  hurled 
it  where  he  heard  the  sound  of  the  oars.  It  fell 
right  in  front  of  the  ship's  bow  and  washed  the  ship 
back  to  the  shore  again.  But  Ulysses  seized  a  long 
pole  with  both  hands  and  pushed  the  ship  from 
the  land  and  bade  his  comrades  ply  their  oars  softly, 
nodding  with  his  head,  for  he  was  too  wise  to  speak, 
lest  the  Cyclops  should  know  where  they  were. 
Then  they  rowed  with  all  their  might  and  main. 

They  had  gone  twice  as  far  as  before,  when  Ulysses' 
pride  became  so  great  that  he  could  no  longer  con- 


WONDER  STORIES  337 

tain  himself.  He  stood  up  in  the  boat  and  called 
out. 

"Hear,  Cyclops.  If  any  man  asks  who  destroyed 
your  power  for  evil,  say  it  was  the  warrior  Ulysses, 
dwelling  in  Ithaca." 

The  giant  heard  and  he  lifted  up  his  hands  and 
spoke  to  Neptune,  the  god  of  the  sea,  who  was  the 
father  of  the  Cyclopes.  "Hear  me,  Neptune,  if  I 
am  indeed  your  son  and  you  are  my  father.  May 
this  Ulysses  never  reach  his  home;  or,  if  the  Fates 
have  ordered  that  he  shall  reach  it,  may  he  come 
alone,  with  all  his  comrades  lost." 

And  as  the  Cyclops  ended  this  wicked  prayer,  he 
hurled  another  mighty  rock  which  almost  lighted  on 
the  rudder's  end,  yet  missed  it  as  if  by  a  hair's 
breadth.  So  Ulysses  escaped  and  all  his  comrades 
with  him,  and  they  came  to  the  island  of  the  wild 
goats  where  they  found  the  rest  of  their  men  who 
had  waited  long  for  them  in  sore  fear  lest  they  had 
perished.  And  they  went  home  in  triumph  to 
Greece. 


GLOSSARY. 

Achelous Ach-e-lo'us 

Achilles A-chil'les 

Acrisius A-cris'i-us 

Admetus Ad-me'tus 

Aegean Ae-ge'an 

Aeneas Ae-ne'as 

Aesculapius Aes'cu-la'pi-us 

Aetna Aet'na 

Agamemnon Aga'mem-non 

Alcestis Al-ces'tis 

Alpheus Al-phe'us 

Andromeda An-drom'e-da 

Antaeus An-tae'us 

Arachne A-rach'ne 

Areas Ar'cas 

Arethusa .Ar-e-thu'sa 

Argonaut :  Ar'go-naut 

Argos Ar'gos 

Ariadne A-ri-ad'ne 

Aristaeus Ar-is-tae'us 

Atalanta At-a-lan'ta 

Attica At'tica 

339 


340  GLOSSARY 

Argus Ar-gus 

Aurora Au-ro'ra 

Bacchus Bac'chus 

Battus Bat'tus 

Baucis Bau'cis 

Bellerophon Bel-ler'o-phon 

Belvidere Bel-vi-dere 

Boreas Bo're-as 

Cadmus.. Cad'mus 

Calllsto Cal-lis'to 

Cassandra Cas-san'dra 

Cassiopeia Cas-si-o-pe'ia 

Celeus Ce'le-us 

Cerberus Cer'be-rus 

Ceres Ce'res 

Charon Cha'ron 

Chimaera Chi-mae'ra 

Circe Cir'ce 

Colchis Col'chis 

Crete Cre'te 

Cyane Cy'a-ne 

Cyclopes Cy-clo'pes 

Cycnus Cyc'nus 

Cyrene Cy-re'ne 

Daedalus Daed'a-lus 

Danae Dan'a-e 

Daphne Daph'ne 


GLOSSARY  341 


Dejanira Dej'a-ni'ra 

Delos De'los 

Delphi Del'phi 

Diana Di-a'na 

Elis ETis 

Elysian E-lys'i-an 

Enceladus En-cel'a-dus 

Ephialtes Eph'i-al'tes 

Epimetheus Ep-i-me'theus 

Erisichthon Er-i-sich'thon 

Europa Eu-ro'pa 

Eurydice Eu-ryd'i-ce 

Eurystheus Eu-rys'theus 

Galatea Gal-a-te'a 

Glaucus Glau'cus 

Gordius Gor'di-us 

Gorgon Gor'gon 

Halcyone Hal-cy'o-ne 

Hamadryad Ham-a-dry'ad 

Hebe He'be 

Hector Hec'toi 

Helios He'lios 

Hercules Her'cu-les 

Hesperides Hes-per'i-des 

Hesperus Hes'pe-rus 

Hippomenes Hip-pom'e-nes 

Hydra Hy'dra 


342  GLOSSARY 

Icarus Ica-rus 

lobates I-ob'a-tes 

Iris I'ris 

Laocoon La-oc'o-on 

Latona La-to'na 

Lemnos Lem'nos 

Lycia Lyc'i-a 

Medusa Me-du'sa 

Melampos Me-lam'pos 

Menelaus Men-e-la'us 

Mercury Mer'cu-ry 

Merope Mer'o-pe 

Midas Mi'das 

Minerva Mi-ner'va 

Minos Mi'nos 

Minotaur Min'o-taur 

Mosychlos Mosy'chlos 

Nemea Ne'me-a 

Nereides Ne-re'i-des 

Olympus O-lym'pus 

Orion O-ri'on 

Orpheus Or'pheus 

Ossa Os'sa 

Otus O-tus 

Ovid Ov'id 

Pactolus Pac-to'lus 

Pandora . .  . .  Pan-do'ra 


GLOSSARY  343 

Patroclus Pa-tro'clus 

Pegasus Peg'a-sus 

Pelias Pe'li-as 

Peneus Pe-ne'us 

Perseus Per'seus 

Phaeton Pha'e-ton 

Phineas Phin'e-us 

Polydectes Pol-y-dec'tes 

Priam Pri'am 

Prometheus Pro-me'theus 

Proserpine Pro-ser'pine 

Philemon Phi-le'mon 

Phrygia Phryg'ia 

Pomona Po-mo'na 

Proteus Pro'teus 

Psyche Psy'che 

Pygmalion Pyg-ma'lion 

Pylos Py-los 

Python Py'thon 

Samos Sa'mos 

Scylla Scyl'la 

Seriphus Se-ri'phus 

Sinon Si'non 

Sirius Sir'i-us 

Somnus Som'nus 

Terminalia Ter'mi-nal-ia 

Theseus..  ..The'se-us 


344  GLOSSARY 


Thessaly Thess'a-ly 

Thetis The'tis 

Thracian Thra-ci'an 

Tityus Tit'yiis 

Trachine Tra'ch-ine 

Tmolus Tmo'lus 

Triton Tri'ton 

Troegene Troe'gene 

Ulysses U-lys'ses 

Vertumnus Ver-tum'nus 

Vulcan..  .  .Vul'can 


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